CommuterMom: Schedule Interrupted

CommuterGirl has a good nighttime routine. At 7:00 she takes a bath. By 7:30 she is in her pajamas and we are attempting to dry her hair…I say attempting because she likes to help. By 7:50 we are cuddled in the chair reading books, and by 8:00 she is in her crib with her 2 bears and her stuffed Knuffle Bunny.

Enter the extended families and holiday parties. The whole schedule goes out the window when she is fed a piece of pie by her Aunt, her grandmother keeps her up until 9:00 and she fitfully sleeps in the pack and play (diagonally because she barely fits) since we aren’t sleeping at our house. The next day our sweet, even-tempered-for-a-toddler child is a monster. But how can I say “no” to family who she hardly gets to spend time with? It means so much to them, and I know CommuterGirl loves every second of it. So I can handle a day or two of a toddler terror. But, am I setting a bad precedent for years to come?