Please, Thank You, and Most Importantly: I'm Sorry

Aiden has been learning to say 'please' and 'thank you' after hearing Sean and I repeat them over and over. No matter what he does, whether it's pick up his toys when I ask or just handing me a book to read, I always say 'thank you'. At first he started saying them but he got them all mixed up. I'd hand him a full cup of milk and he'd say 'please!'. He'd carefully put away all of his toys and say 'thank you mommy'. It was sort of funny, like he was thanking us for instilling a little discipline, even though we'd repeat 'thank you' right after him. We knew he was understanding when to say the magic words, but he didn't quite understand them yet.

The other day I was cooking dinner and he was doing something annoying and potentially unsafe like slamming cabinet doors. I was distracted with the hot stove and instead of calmly asking him to stop I turned around and snapped at him to STOP RIGHT NOW!!!

He looked up at me with those big toddler eyes and very quietly said "Sorry Mommy".

I almost cried! I felt so bad for yelling at him, but he was so sweet and seemed to genuinely understand that one important concept of "I'm sorry". I made sure to say it myself that time.

Sorry Mommy!