Then Sophia walked in.
Meltdown.
"I don't like my bed moved! I don't like it! Move it back! I hate my bed there! I won't sleep in it! I will stay up all night! I hate it! Move it back!..."
That explosive tantrum lasted a lot longer than it needed to, but I stood firm. The bed had to be moved, it wasn't going back, and she could decide to sleep in it or not. Her choice.
She chose not.
In protest, she slept on her bedroom floor that night.
And the next night.
And the next night.
Each night, Laura made sure she was settled in well enough with blankets and pillows and dolls and water.
Each day after I asked her if she was going to sleep on her soft and comfortable bed instead of the hard and uncomfortable floor, "I hate my bed moved," she would say.
Of course, I should have known. Don't move a daughter's bed without her explicit permission, or at least without giving her proper notice and time for appeals and negotiations, and perhaps a promise of ice cream to ease the pain of her disappointment.
Well, Wednesday, I got smart and casually suggested that we read bedtime books together in her bed, as we have done on occasion, instead of in the living room.
I also gently brought up the fact that her bed had been a gift from her grandmother, Mamo, who might be sad to learn that Sophia no longer liked her bed. Besides, did she know that Mommy and Daddy used to sleep in this bedroom and that our bed used to be against this wall instead of under the window?...
After she had asked a few clarifying questions, she reluctantly agreed that we could read books in her bed, but she reminded me that she still hated the bed and would still be sleeping on the floor until her bed was moved back under the window.
"Okay," I said.
With that, she climbed into her bed for the first time in three days, suddenly announced, "I think I changed my mind and I will sleep in my bed tonight," then cozied up next to her daddy to read.
"Okay," I said.
And just like that, a peace treaty was made, and the Great Big Bed War was officially ended.
Thursday:
Me: How did you sleep in your soft and comfortable bed last night?
Sophia: Good.
Laura: Are you going to sleep in it again tonight?
Sophia: No, I'm going to sleep on the floor again, because I hate that my bed was moved...
So, yet again, in an act of non-violent civil disobedience, she slept on her bedroom floor last night.
Sigh...
P.S. Since that last night of protest, she's been sleeping in her bed without complaint. Her just message delivered and received:
Do unto a three year old as you would have her do unto you.
Amen.
