Devious Behavior

The other night. Ella took a bath. Ella loves baths. She will sit in there and pour water out of the cups, play with her repunzel boat, sing songs, lay in the water, and spalsh around. She loves to play in the water! However Ella does not like to get her hair washed. At. All. As soon as I mention it she starts to whine and cry. She cries through the whole thing and then whimpers from the time she is done till she gets out of the tub and gets dressed. It is quite dramatic.
So, back to the other night, I got her in the tub and tried to prepare her... "Ella, tonight we are going to wash your hair" (Immediate whining and cries of dismay) "Don't worry, I am not going to wash it yet. You may play for a while and then I will come in and wash it before you get out." She was happy, I was happy. I left Charles to keep an eye in her and went to do the dishes.
15 minutes later Ella prances into the kitchen fully dressed and ready for bed. I figured that Charles must have been trying to help me out buy getting her ready for bed. However upon questioning I found out that is not what happened at all.
Ella decided that she did not want to get her hair washed, so after she was done playing she put all her toys away, drained the tub, dried herself off, got dressed and put her dirty clothes in the hamper.
I have to admit. (Though I am not proud of it) At first I was a bit frustrated. Her hair was dirty, it needed to be washed. I told her it needed to be washed. She knew, I knew. In my eyes she had deliberately disobeyed. I had been thwarted by a 3 year old! I was all for getting her back in the tub and washing her hair just to make a point. Then I had one of those moments as a parent that I am grateful for. I looked down at Ella's smiling face. Yes, there was a glimmer of devious mischife in her eyes but I could tell that she was also proud of what she had accomplished. She had, for the first time, really done what I always ask her to do(many times over) without having to be asked once. I realized with a jolt that what she had done was really impressive. I knew I could enforce my will and make her wash her hair and have her be upset all night, or I could accept and praise the good in what she did.
I am glad that Charles and I choose the latter path. We told Ella how awesome it was that she had kept the floor dry, and gotten dressed. She was happy, we were happy.


She went to bed, and I lay awake thinking, wow, she is really starting to grow up!