Abby Gives Herself a Time-Out

Tonight Abby gave herself a time-out - seriously, she pulled her stool out of the bathroom, set it against the wall and sat down.

It all started about ten minutes earlier. We'd been having a lovely evening, and Abby had just polished off a tasty orange popsicle, after which I'd planned on taking her up to bed. After plopping the last cold bite in her mouth she zipped into the kitchen, presumably to throw out her stick. Apparently, on the way back through she saw her bathing suit peeking out of the laundry basket that was sitting in the living room. I was able to catch her before she got it on, but not before she'd stripped off all her clothes.

From there she and I embarked on a tug-of-war with that bathing suit, which I eventually, "won". Poor Abby was heartbroken - and mad as a hornet. There was a lot of yelling and a few hits (from Abby), as well as some counting and threats for a time-out (from me). Luckily, I was able to keep my cool. After all, I knew she was just disappointed that she wouldn't be able to head out to the pool.

Now, usually when she gets to this point there isn't any reasoning with her - she's just too mad, and this time was no different. Jason stepped in and was able to calm her a bit with some music and dancing, but she still continued to cry rather pitifully. So, Dad took Abby upstairs where they could cuddle, because at this point Abby didn't want anything to do with Mom.

It wasn't long before I heard Jason call to me. I walked upstairs to find Abby sitting on her stool against the wall with her head hanging. We tried to talk her out of it, offering suggestions for the fun that we would have tomorrow, but she was having none of that. Finally, I hunkered down in front of her and put my finger on her chin so I could look her in the eyes. Whatever I was going to say was gone when Abby raised her arms to my shoulders and leaned in for a hug saying, "I'm sorry, Mama." That would be when I melted to a puddle on the floor.

I wasn't angry with her and she hadn't been in trouble, but she'd obviously had some bad feelings about what went down with the whole bathing suit episode. That hug was all it took to get a beautiful smile out of her and a happy attitude. We cuddled for a while and chatted about swimming tomorrow. When it came time to head off to dreamland she wanted Jason, but that was alright with me, because we were both good. Within fifteen minutes she was sleeping soundly.

I love seeing these glimpses of her sensitive side. She has such a tender heart, and I'm proud of the fact that she wanted to apologize, even when it wasn't forced on her. Once again, I've learned an important lesson from my little girl.

That's my sweetie!