I'm crying because...

We all know the saying "Pick your battles".  But what happens when we pick the wrong battles to fight.  This happened last night.  By the time Charlie realized that he had picked the wrong battle, he was too far into it and had to finish it.  Nothing was gained.  No lesson was learned.  But we had to endure 30 minutes of crying and screaming.  It was clear to me early on that the crying and screaming was a tired tantrum and once she got wound up with the screaming, she physically couldn't stop.  I finally got her calmed down after about 30 minutes.  The main battle started because Charlie turned the hall light off.  But as she was calming down, in between gulps and cries, she had the funniest comments.  Such as...

I'm crying because I forgot to brush my teeth.  

      My response "Okay, good stall tactic but after you brush your teeth, the lights go back off."

I'm crying because my arm hurts.  

      My response "Okay, I don't remember you hitting your arm but I will kiss it."

I'm crying because my foot hurts.  

      My response "Oops, I just ran over your foot with the rocking chair.  Sorry about that."

I'm crying because Daddy hurt my feelings.  

      My response "Daddy loves you."  

I'm crying because I need water.  

     My response "Here is a sip of water."

I'm crying because Daddy won't leave my room.  

     My response "He will leave when you are ready to go to sleep."

And my favorite...

I'm crying because I need chocolate.  

     My response "No you don't."  But deep inside I was thinking, yeah, chocolate sounds good and it always helps.  :)