I love you

Last night was orientation at Evan's new Pre-k. The teacher seems great and I like the way she gives parents reminders on the obvious, like, "Remember that your child is doing the best they can at the age they are..." Good reminder.

Even with the reminder, sometimes TIME OUTS are inevitable. Like today, Evan had 2 nearly back to back, and then lost an hour of outside play. We call playing, and other fun stuff 'privileges' and when he's in TIME OUT, he always wants to know if he's lost his 'pri-je-jez'. (I want to always remember the way he says that. ) It's hard to have a serious face on when he is asking through tears, "Did I lose my pre-je-jez?" My favorite is when he tells me, "You're going to lose YOUR pre-je-jez!")

During his one hour in the house he says, "Could you not tell Dad?" (This is the first time I have heard this request, but I remember saying the same thing when I was little. I think we always want to save face in front of at least one parent.)
"About what?" I ask.
"Don't tell Dad about my 2 time outs. Could you not tell him?"
"Oh, OK, it's just between me and you. But if you get a third time out, I'm telling him. So you better start saying nice stuff." (He had been sassy...)
"I love you." he says.

Yes, I guess that's about as nice as it comes.