Although there were moments that I doubted that my sanity might make it, it appears that both Owen and I survived the first night of crying it out (alternate project title: “How to make an evening suck in a hurry and lose alot of sleep doing it”) without too many scars, emotional and otherwise.
My child is extremely strong-willed, which I am grateful for because it will serve him well someday. Tenacity can be an effective tool to get where you want to go in life. He just doesn’t realize that Mama, after not sleeping for about 4 consecutive hours at a go for 19+ months (hey that last month before he was born wasn’t exactly filled with uninterrupted nights either) has a much stronger will and that the desire for an uninterrupted stretch of time in the evening to get work done far outstretches his puny by comparison will. I generally end up being flexible and going with the flow, but if I get to the point where I decide that this is it and draw my line in the sand and dig my heels in, I’m in it to the bitter bitter end and failure is not something that computes. So yeah, it sucks that it has had to come down to a battle of wills between my child and I, but unfortunately, Mama needs her sanity, so I already know who is going to be the victor in this battle. And it isn’t someone who can be bribed to sit on the potty for M&M’s either. My Achilles heel is mini Butterfingers, thank you very much.
Next up this evening, Bedtime tough love Round 2.