All too familiar

When Aubrey was a baby, we would put Emily to bed in her room and sneak Aubrey in there after both the girls were asleep.  When Aubrey got a little older, she would sometimes cry at bedtime and want to play her music while she put herself to sleep.  Emily didn't like that so we agreed to let her go to sleep in our bed and then move her to her room after both girls had fallen asleep.  During the summer Emily and Daddy would go to bed in the big bed while Anthony and I stayed up late watching tv on the couch. and if we didn't stay on the couch overnight, I was stuck carrying Emily to bed or sleeping at the bottom like the dog. Summer is over and we all go to bed much earlier.  Emily starts school in a few days and it's time we get back into a normal bedtime routine. A couple nights ago I put the girls to bed at 9 o'clock.  Emily must have come out of her room over twenty times.  By 9:45 I was tired and knew Daddy would be home from work soon, so I sent her to bed one last time with a warning.  She came out again, so I walked her to her room and locked the door. I knew she would cry and wake Aubrey up.  After a couple minutes of both girls crying I came in and brought Aubrey back out in the living room and asked Emily if she was ready to stay in her bed.  She said no so I looked the door again. Emily cried, screamed and carried on for another hour and a half until finally my arm fell asleep from holding the baby so I put her in her crib. Emily was still awake but had calmed down.  I laid on the floor next to her bed and kept her company for a few minutes and left and told her I'd be back to check on her in a few minutes.  She fell asleep.  She is one stubborn little girl.  Last night she went to bed the first time so I had a feeling this would be easier than I thought.  I've been thru this before with Anthony when he was little.  Heck I still go thru this with Anthony sometimes now.  Last night at 9 o'clock, together Daddy and I put the girls to bed.  We thought they were both sleeping until half an hour later, Emily came out of her room.  She wanted to sleep in our bed.  I checked with Daddy (to make sure he had my back and that we were on the same page) and we told Emily to go back to bed.  She insisted she was going to sleep in our bed.  We went to bed and told Emily no.   She refused to go to her bed, so this time I didn't make her.  I patted her on the head and left her in the hallway and said goodnight. This time there was no crying, no screaming, just a persistent little girl standing her ground.  I guess we both one. I slept in m own bed and so did she, after Daddy carried her back to bed.  This all seems so familiar to me. I remember falling asleep at the bottom of the stairs when I was a kid.  And I remember having to be carried back to bed. I didn't have to be carried because I was still awake, (at least some of the times) but it was easier to pretend to avoid getting in trouble.