Two days ago Elizabeth and I were playing Monster/Dragon/Lion. That's the game where you and your child take turns roaring loudly and chasing each other around the room, until the child collapses in a giggling pile on the floor and you tickle her till she pees. Well, apparently I roared one too many times, because Elizabeth came to a sceeching halt mid-roar and shifted from hysterical laughter mode to hysterical crying mode in .000000000000001 seconds.
I felt terrible for making her cry. Her tears caused my heart to shatter in a million little pieces.
I ran over, scooped up my crying babe and whispered in her ear how utterly sorry I was for making her sad. She looked at me with her teary eyes and said, "Time out, Mommy."
After the initial shock wore off, I quietly set her down and walked over to the Time Out chair and sat down. I looked at my daughted and said one last time, "I'm so sorry, honey."
She stared blankly at me, sniffling just a little, climbed on the couch and watched me take my Time Out. After a minute, I asked, "May I get up now?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"What do I have to do to get out of Time Out?"
With that, Elizabeth hopped off the couch, wandered over to me, looked me square in the eye, gave a nod of her head, held out her tiny hand and issued her response.
"Jelly Beans?"