Let sleeping monsters lie

I’ve mentioned before that Babe is not good at going to sleep. This is not an understatement. I’ve tried everything that I can think of to make her go to bed. I think it comes down to the fact that she is just like my mother a night person. She stays up until 11 almost every night and will be glad to sleep in until 8:30-9 if we let her (unfortunately for her we are out the door by 7:30, the latest, every morning). It would be one thing if she stayed in her bedroom and quietly played with her toys. Instead she prefers to come into our room to tell us she needs to pee/get a drink/ask me a question/find her sock/give me a hug/pick her nose/sing a song/bake a cake/read a book/trace her hand on this piece of paper she found/and other typical almost 3-year old stalling tactics. Another possibly scenario is that she climbs in our bed and MUST crawl between me and my husband. She refuses to sleep on the outside and should we be too close together for her to fit she will wedge her sharp elbows and knees into our back until she can pry us apart. She then proceeds to kick us in the face/lay sideways with her head on my ass and her feet on my husband/slap us in the face…I think you get the point. We have learned that when she climbs in we immediately put our leg pillows (we both sleep with a pillow between our knees, it’s good for your back and flailing 2-year olds, don’t judge) in between ourselves and her to form a buffer from her surprisingly strong “sleeping” kicks and slaps. Eventually I get pissed off enough that I get up and bring her back in her room. Which is followed by her following me back to my room. This usually lasts for about a ½ hour before I duct tape her to her bed post scream at her and she cries and then we are all even more miserable then before. Is it bad that I dream about the nights she’ll be sneaking out of the house while we are all sleeping? At least she won’t be physically kicking me in the face.

Lily