Humbling.

At every chance he gets, Tyler loves to escape to the backseat of the van and explore. Instead of climbing into his carseat, he loves to creep back there, climb, thrash, and flop all around, while I practice all my best Love and Logic techniques to get him back into his carseat.

Often, after warnings and choices and threats of timeouts, I end up in the backseat with him, physically bringing him back to reality and obedience.

But today, oh today, he obeyed me. He climbed into the backseat to retrieve a toy, and then he climbed right up into his carseat. You can bet I praised, I cheered, and I rewarded with my favor.

Meanwhile, from his seat across the aisle, Tucker said, "Oh, Mommy. Thank you for not yelling at Tyler today."

Thank you for not yelling at Tyler.

Apparently I did everyone a favor by minding my tongue. I embraced this teachable opportunity to remind them both that I do not need to yell at children who obey, and they would hear my kind voice even more if they obeyed it even more.

(Never mind the fact that I wish I did not yell in general. But don't we all?)

You're welcome, Tucker.