[camle]

a good parent usually wins the power struggles. they are responsible and therefore need to be in charge. my kid WAS a screamer. the ex would go up, read, talk, play music, and the nighttime ritual quickly became a two hour ordeal. whne the ex went away for a month, it took me two days to convince the tyke that bedtime was bedtime. by the time the ex returned, she was amazed: I wouuld tell the kid, "bedtime" and she would drop what she was doing, run upstairs, change in to her pj's and climb into bed. nary a peep.

and there was NO force, real or threatened involved.

[secret garden]

Wow. You were lucky. Although it sounds like she was manipulating your ex, if she was like most kids, she wouldn't have given up that easy. Count your blessings!