Three of the grands spent a couple weeks with us this summer. This is one of the many camp stories!

It all started innocently at breakfast. The Princess and Hot Rod were at the table awaiting their morning meal. I handed them their plates with Sunday morning’s continental breakfast of yogurt, blueberry muffins and orange slices.

So far, so good!

Then, I sat their drinks down in front of them, handing Hot Rod a blue sippy cup and The Princess a red sippy cup.

“But I want the BLUE sippy cup,” she whined.

I shot a silent, pleading look at Hot Rod, hoping he’d be a gentleman and offer to switch cups, but he, too, wanted the blue cup.

“Well, today you get the red cup. Tomorrow you can have the blue cup,” I told The Princess.

“Noooooooo! I want the BLUE cup TODAY!,” she said.

“Well, I’m sorry about your luck, but today you have the red cup,” I replied, feeling just a tad guilty that I used the phrase I hated to hear as a child.

The Princess looked at the cup, then looked at me defiantly and pushed the cup away.

Clearly, she had drawn her battle line.

But she misjudged her opponent.

I didn’t give her a new cup. I left the red cup remain on the table exactly where she had pushed it.

The Princess glared at me as she stuffed pieces of muffin in her mouth, crumbs falling onto the table.

I ignored her and the crumbs now on the table.

She finished her breakfast and I excused her from the table to go wash up.

An hour or so later, she asked for a drink, clearly thinking I had forgotten about the sandbox and the line that had been drawn in it.

But I did not forget! I reminded her that her drink was on the table.

She walked to the dining room, apparently expecting something other than the red cup. When she saw it, she emitted one of those “humphs” she is famous for, but stopped short of a full-on tantrum and returned to play time.

This occurred at least two more times before dinner, when she returned to the table to again find the red cup at her space (I had refilled it with fresh juice, but she didn’t know that).

That kid held out. She didn’t drink a drop out of the red cup all day!

I wasn’t cruel. I was totally aware her brother had shared the contents of the blue cup with her and I saw her retrieve a Dixie cup of water in the bathroom a time or two.

But I had made my point and she had made hers.

The next day, I asked her what color cup she wanted. She replied and received her request.

I call that a win-win!