Last night, as I was turning off the lights in preparation for tucking Alexis into her miniature bed, she stumbled upon my sticker stash. The sticker stash that I have been using to reward her for staying in her bed all night, and that I aspire to one day use as a reward her for a successful potty breaks should pigs fly, Mars go into retrograde, and the miracle of pottying in the toilet ever actually happen. She clutched the edges of that sheet of stickers, staring hard with squinted blue eyes, trying to determine exactly which Dora sticker she should ask to have.

I told her, "You can have one in the morning if you stay in your bed all night."

She continued to stare and then excitedly spewed, "Dis one! Dora! Boots! Puuuuuweeze?"

I was tired, and I was weak, so I decided to let her have a sticker right then and there.

I carefully peeled it from the backing and she hurriedly adhered it to the back of her hand. With a grin, a "Dank you!" and a kiss, she snuggled into her sandpaper-like Mickey Mouse sheets. She softly stroked the precious Dora sticker, whispering excitedly to herself, until she finally fell sound asleep.

A few hours later, I heard the familiar sounds of tiny toddler feet shuffling quietly into our room. "Water, please," she whispered. It seemed a long way to walk for a drink of the exact same water that was in her cup right next to her bed, but there's really no point in arguing at 2:00 in the morning. As she handed the bottle back to me, I said, "Go back to bed, Alexis." She shuffled her bare little feet a few inches toward the door then paused. As she peered down at her tiny hands, softly illuminated by the glow of the alarm clock, her brow furrowed deep with thought.

Slowly, carefully, she peeled the Dora sticker from the back of her left hand and handed it to me. "Cuddle, please?" she hesitantly whispered.

My little Dora minion was willing to sacrifice a favorite sticker if it meant she could cuddle with me in my bed. Who could say no to that?