power struggles

This morning I didn't let E take any dress-up clothes to school because she had tried to sneak 5 dresses and tutus past me, stuffed in her pillow case. She lied when I asked what was in there. So we had lots of crying and accusations of unfairness, etc. in the car on the way to preschool. Some of the best lines:

E: "I never get to do everything I want!"
me: "No one ever gets to do everything they want"
E: "Pippi Longstocking does!"

E: "I wish you and Daddy could go to another land so I could do anything I want."
me: "You want to live like Pippi Longstocking?"
E: (reflective pause, change of tone) "But I don't know how I could... I don't know how to cook stuff!"