You're a good boy, Hayden Crotts

Today Hayden was angry at me (for making a quick phone call) and to show it he deliberately picked up a glass vase and hurled it at the floor. The flower arrangement broke out of it and the vase shattered. I was so taken aback at witnessing this that I promptly hung up and scolded him, along with a little spank. He knew what he'd done--and I couldn't believe he did it. He went from fuming to crying and as he did I felt that familiar wash of guilt, but I stood firm. I picked up the glass and vacuumed while he watched in silence. Later after he'd had his lunch I was washing the dishes when I saw him walk back over to the table where the vase had been...he quietly picked up the flowers and tried to stand them back up like they had been sitting before. He didn't know i was watching. He was somber and determined. I walked over to him, with melted heart and tears in my eyes and knelt down, asking for a hug. He said "better, mama" and motioned to the flowers before giving me a big hug. When he pulled away I looked in his eyes and said to him "you're a good boy Hayden." And then I told him I loved him and explained how it was wrong to act the way he did, but also that fixing it was a sweet thing to do. It really was his way of apologizing. He IS a good boy. Sure he's wild and crazy and he definitely has a temper, but he's two...he's allowed to make mistakes. He does bad things sometimes, but you know what, this time I'm confident he learned a lesson out of it. Call me crazy, but I recalled the incident the rest of the day with a sense of pride. And after it was all over, he was extra good the rest of the day to boot!