For about two years, bedtime battles were the worst forty-five minutes of my day. My youngest needs water. Then the bathroom. Then one specific toy that had not been touched since last Christmas. I would start out patiently and finish in the hallway doing that quiet, angry whisper every dad knows. What fixed it was not a trick. It was an earlier bedtime, the same boring routine every night, and me deciding to stop negotiating at eight o'clock. I'm not a sleep expert. I'm a da