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It all began with some innocent dinner table chit-chat.

Noah said to his sisters, "Who do you like better, Tom or Jerry?"

Lilah immediately cast a vote for the little mouse and Aviva got MAD.

"Lilah", she huffed, "I like Jerry. NOT YOU. ONLY ME."

Lilah laughed, which made Aviva even angrier.

I decided to thwart a tantrum by saying, "Girls, you can both like Jerry."

Aviva gave me her mean face. And growled.

"No. I like Jerry. JUST ME."

Sigh.

This little incident sparked two days of the world revolving around Aviva.

Since then, she has revoked the idea that I am also Noah and Lilah's mom (a silly argument, since I'm fairly certain that I gave birth to them.). She won't let me kiss or hug Michael, saying, "NO! My Daddy!"

To make matters worse, Lilah came down with a little fever and had to stay home from camp for two days. My need to focus on her turned Aviva into a whiny beast. Every activity had to be her choice, every moment I spent tending to Lilah was scored with shrill whines.

Today, Lilah is back at camp, feeling better.

Aviva also starts My Gym class today. Let's hope that she has too much fun to notice that she's not running the show and that my mantra - it's just a phase, it's just a phase - makes this stage of the 3's go by quickly.