The Funniest Time-Out EVER!

Haha! When I saw these pictures, it took me a minute to realize why I would have taken pictures of Van in a time-out, seeing as how these are fairly regular occurrence around here, and defiantly not worthy of any pictures. And that's when it hit me: this wasn't just any regular time-out, it happens to be the funniest time-out ever!
It had been a long day for all three of us and Tyler was trying to get some pretty big assignments done while I scrambled to throw some dinner together. Van wanted some attention, so he was acting up and none of our delay tactics were working. He was becoming increasingly fragile. He pestered Ty for his chapstick until he gave it to him. After a few minutes of semi-eating the chapstick, Tyler took it back and told Van he didn't need anymore. Van kept asking for it, and begging for it and whining for it... Our nerves were wearing thinner and thinner with each request. Finally Tyler was forced to give the ultimate threat: "Ask again and you'll go to time-out!"
I should say that, as a good parent, I know that the best thing to do here would have been to stop what I was doing & give him my love and attention. I don't have any really great excuse as for why I didn't do this. I do have a few good reasons, such as teaching him patience & obedience, but in the eternal perspective, things like that don't really matter. The point is, we just let it escalate to the point where Tyler couldn't take it anymore.
So daddy jumps up from the computer and picks Van up while informing him that he is going to time-out for saying chapstick too many times. Ha! I was laughing so hard I had to turn my back so that Van didn't see me and loose focus of the seriousness of the situation. Every time Tyler reemphasized why Van was in time-out, I lost compsure all over again. Who has to go to time-out for saying chapstick too much?!? Um, yeah, that would be my kid! Totally hilarious and ridiculous and I am so glad I have these silly pictures to remind me of that night. Majorie Pay Hinkley once said something like: "The only way to get through life it to laugh. You either have to laugh or cry and crying gives me a headache, so I choose to laugh." And that's exactly what we did tonight- laughed. Sure, Van had to cry a bit, but you have to admit, it is kind of funny!

"Cap-stick"

Ahh, yes. Van is OBSESSED with chapstick. He would happily apply it to his lips and chapped nose for hours on end. He loves to have his own stick that he can put in his pocket to carry around and use whenever he needs it. He knows that mommy & daddy always have some with them, so he is always trying to get ours when we are out. He also knows that mommy has a special chapstick (that is actually lip-gloss) that he isn't supposed to have. His mommy, who gets nervous every time she takes a shower because she never knows what kind of mischief he will find while she is busy, thought she had a pretty good hiding place for her lip-gloss. But today, Van found that hiding place and this is what I found when I got out of the shower:


Can you see it all on his nose? Oh, and that little bit that actaully got onto his lips and not in his mouth?So I ask him to show me where it is, so I can clean it up and put it away. He tells me he already put it away. (Was he really trying to be helpful, or was he hoping I wouldn't notice?) I make him show me, just to make sure it was where it should be... and it was, but it was a mess! So while I cleaned up the goop, I let him hold the lip-gloss & then I took a few pics of him in action. I never realized how much attention he must pay to me: he knows where I keep things and how I use them. He is such a smart boy!