"He Forgive Me!"

So Marcus and I are LOVING Caleb and Ethan sharing a room. The last two nights, we have just done their bedtime routine and left them awake to fall asleep without either of us there. We leave the door open, so any attempts to get out of bed can be promptly redirected. Both nights, they have talked for at least 45 minutes before Ethan fell asleep, and then Caleb followed shortly afterwards. Last night, Ethan was still a little wired after books and prayers, and he executed several small acts of violence against his brother during their chatting time. Each time, Caleb would wail and I would come in and ask what happened. Caleb would tell me, I would scold Ethan, and Ethan would apologize. Then I'd tell Ethan that if he didn't behave, he was going to have to go sleep in his crib by himself. Ethan would assure of his commitment to behaving and Caleb would jump in with, "I forgive him, Mama, don't take him away." The third time this exact scenario played out, I told Ethan that sorry or no sorry, he had crossed the line too many times, and he was going to have to go to the crib. Ethan's face crumpled up, he shrunk back into the pillow, pulled the covers up to his chin and wailed "NO! NOOOOO!! HE FORGIVE ME! HE FORGIVE ME! HE FORGIVE ME!" I'd never heard Ethan say "forgive" before, and in that context it was too hilarious. Needless to say, he got one more go-around with grace. As I was leaving the room, Caleb said in a quiet voice, "Mama, next time, you don't need to come. I'm going to forgive him every time."

I was humbled by his attitude, and I guess it had an impact on Ethan as well, because there were no more outcries after that.