THE NAUGHTY STEP

I know this photo is blurry, but bear with me. Like all families, we have rules in our house. There's the obvious: no hitting, no throwing, no biting, etc. There's also the less obvious: don't take all the cushions off the couch and sit on top of your sister, don't climb onto the dining room table, etc. Obvious or not, Gus knows most of these rules. Unfortunately for him, he's two and a half years old and frequently breaks them. This naturally results in a time-out.

Before Nova moved around so much, we would carry him up to his room and he would sit in the naughty chair. Now it's impossible to leave her downstairs while I take him up to have a time-out, so instead, he now sits on the bottom step. It's name, of course, is the naughty step, and Gus spends time on it frequently. Sometimes, he even tells me when he needs to go sit on the naughty step and have a time-out.

The other day, while he was cooling his heels on the naughty step, Nova went and sat down by him with her arm around his shoulders. He told her he was sorry for hitting her, and gave her a hug. Then they both sat there quietly for a minute, looking at me like it was the most natural thing in the world. It absolutely cracked me up, and I ran for the camera. This was the best shot I got of the two of them, and even though it's blurry, it still makes me laugh.