"No!" 4-year-old Olive St. James cried. Her mother, 31-year-old Rachel, sighed.
"You've been having a very hard time listening today. If you aren't going to clean up your toys like I asked - and I've given you several chances to do that, then you can go sit in timeout," Rachel said firmly.
Olive stomped her foot.
"I will not!" She protested.
Rachel just shook her head and scooped Olive up.
"Put me down! Put me down!" Olive demanded. Rachel firmly set Olive on the bottom step of the staircase, and pulled out her phone. "You'd better stay there for the full four minutes or I'm starting my timer over."
Olive scowled at the floor but remained sitting. Rachel started the timer and walked away.
Soon, Rachel's husband, 33-year-old Jesse, came down the stairs.
Upon noticing his crying daughter, he paused and frowned.
"What happened, Oli baby?" Jesse asked. He knew this was the designated timeout spot, and Olive likely deserved the timeout she was serving out, but still, it broke his heart to hear his little girl cry.
"Mommy put me in timeout!" Olive cried. "This is the worst thing ever!"
"Oh!" Jesse cried. Without thinking, he scooped Olive up and held her close.
"Jesse - what are you doing?!" Rachel demanded, appearing in front of her husband and daughter.
Jesse quickly set Olive down.
"Come on, Rachel - just look at her! I'm sure she learned her lesson," Jesse insisted.
Rachel sighed. "Jesse, you don't even know -" Rachel started, then, remembering Olive was still present, turned to Olive and told her to go play. When Olive left, Rachel turned back to Jesse.
"You don't even know the day I've had with her! She's been saying no to me left and right, not doing anything I ask her. You only just got back from the movie and the gym so I've been dealing with her all by myself. Although, even if you had been home, I would've been dealing with her by myself too," she muttered.
"Excuse me?" Jesse asked defensively.
"Jesse - you let her walk all over you. This has to stop. I cannot be the only one to discipline our daughter," Rachel said.
Jesse sighed.
"I know…I just hate upsetting her. She's my little girl," Jesse said.
"I know. She's mine, too and as much as I would love to make her happy all the time - that isn't part of the parental job description. And one day, our little girl is going to grow up and this kind of thing is only going to get worse. Maybe timeouts aren't the best option. I've been reading that parenting book I got at the library and it was talking about how the punishment should fit the crime. Well, the book didn't call it a punishment - it called it a consequence. So…maybe today instead of putting her in timeout for not cleaning up her toys, I should've put them all away for the rest of the evening. Maybe that would've gotten the point across better. Of course…we both would need to be on the same page in order for something like that to stick," Rachel said.
Jesse nodded in agreement.
"Maybe you're the one who needs a timeout," Rachel said, smirking.
"Maybe. Or…a different punishment," he turned around slyly.
Rachel laughed. "Not now - Olive is in the other room!"
"I'll take a rain check," Jesse kissed Rachel on the forehead. "And…I'll step up to the plate with Olive, I promise."
"Okay," Rachel kissed him back but secretly she was still skeptical. Olive had Jesse wrapped around her little finger.
The next day, Rachel had a callback and then was going out to lunch with some friends. Olive was excited because Jesse told her he would take her to the park after lunch and nap time.
"Can we go to the park yet, Daddy?" Olive asked, as he set her lunch in front of her.
"Not yet - you've got to eat your lunch and then take a nap," Jesse said.
"I don't want to take a nap," Olive frowned at her apple slices.
"That's fine if you don't sleep, but you still need to have an hour of quiet time," Jesse said firmly.
Olive sighed, but didn't protest further.
After her lunch, Olive was able to watch one episode of TV before Jesse turned off the TV and told her it was time to go to the bathroom before her nap.
Begrudgingly, the preschooler got up and headed for the bathroom.
Once she was settled in bed, Jesse offered her some books.
"Okay," she said, accepting the stack of Little Golden Books her father handed her.
Jesse kissed her forehead. "See you soon for the park, big girl."
Olive smiled. "Love you, Daddy."
"Love you too, Oli," Jesse left the room and closed the door behind him.
Olive paged through her Cinderella book for a while before setting it down.
"I don't need him to go to the park!" She said firmly. "I will go by myself! I bet I can find it - I go there all the time." Olive got out of bed and crept down the stairs. She tiptoed towards the door, looking around to make sure her father wasn't around. She could hear his TV show, so he was probably distracted. Reaching for the doorknob she frowned.
"Childproof!" She grumbled. Olive didn't fully know what childproof meant, but to her it was another way of saying "Mommy and Daddy won't let Olive have fun."
Olive St. James wasn't one to give up easily, though. She started to jiggle the doorknob, hoping the cover would give way.
What Olive didn't realize, however, was that her father was in the bathroom which was about six feet away from the foyer.
Jesse came out of the bathroom and cleared his throat.
"Olive Maria St. James - what do you think you're doing?" Jesse asked.
Wow, he was using her full name. Usually just Mommy did that.
Olive turned around, plastering an angelic smile on her face.
"Hi Daddy - you look really handsome today!" Olive said.
But Jesse, who normally would've cracked a smile at that, just kept frowning.
"Olive, I asked you a question. What are you doing?" Jesse repeated.
"Going to the park," Olive replied.
"Olive, I told you you had to take a nap first. Besides, you know you're not supposed to leave the house without me or Mommy," Jesse said.
"I didn't want to wait!" Olive protested.
Jesse sighed.
"Well, now you're going to have to wait even longer," Jesse said.
"What?" Olive asked.
Jesse sighed again. What he was about to say was going to make Olive very unhappy (and in turn, make him very unhappy) but it had to be done.
"We're not going to the park today, Olive," Jesse said.
Olive's face fell.
"You said we could!" Olive stomped her foot.
"That was before you tried to leave the house by yourself," Jesse said. "Now, you're having quiet time, and then playing here at home."
"No! Daddy, please - I'll listen. I won't ever try to leave the house by myself again!" Olive was desperate.
Jesse just shook his head.
"You can go back to your room by yourself or I can carry you," Jesse said.
Olive began to cry.
"I wish I had a different daddy!" Olive yelled.
"Okay," Jesse said. That hurt, it really did, but based on Olive's facial expression, she was expecting more of a reaction, so it was good he was keeping a poker face.
Olive raced up the stairs and slammed the door behind her.
Even when her quiet time was up, she refused to come out of her room. Jesse figured she just needed some space and so, despite his broken daddy heart, he headed back to the family room and tried to watch his show.
Rachel returned soon after.
"Hi!" She greeted her husband with a kiss. "Where's Olive? I thought you guys would've been at the park by now."
Jesse shook his head. "We didn't go to the park today. She's upset with me and has been in her room since her quiet time ended."
Rachel looked quizzically at her husband.
"Shortly after I got her in bed, I caught her trying to go to the park by herself. So, now she can't go today," Jesse said.
"You disciplined Olive without giving in?" Rachel asked, setting her purse down.
"Yes. And it sucked - but I did it and I know how important it is," Jesse said.
"It is - I'm so proud of you, honey. She's going to get over her anger, I promise. She's not used to Daddy putting his foot down, so it's probably a lot to take in," Rachel kissed Jesse again and soon the two realized they were not alone.
"Hi Olive," Jesse said. "Mommy's back."
"Hi, Oli," Rachel opened her arms and Olive gave her a hug. Jesse noticed she was avoiding eye contact with him, but she didn't seem angry now - she seemed guilty.
"Daddy," she finally said.
"Yes, honey?" Jesse asked, happy she was finally acknowledging him.
"Can we talk about my behavior?" Olive asked.
"Of course, baby," Jesse smiled warmly at his daughter.
"Can I sit on your lap?" Olive asked.
"Please do!" Jesse said. He helped her get settled.
"I'm sorry," Olive said.
"Why are you sorry?" Jesse asked.
"I'm sorry for trying to go outside by myself," Olive replied.
"I forgive you. Do you know why we don't want you going outside by yourself?" Jesse asked.
Olive shook her head.
"Because it's dangerous. We don't want you to get lost or hurt," Jesse explained. "So that's why we have that rule, and why it's important that you follow it. If you can't follow the rules, then Mommy and I have to give you a consequence - like having to sit in timeout or not being able to go to the park. We just want to teach you how to be safe and make good choices. Do you understand?"
Olive nodded.
"Daddy?" Olive said again.
"Yes, Oli?" Jesse asked.
"I'm glad you're my daddy. I don't want anyone else to be my daddy," Olive said.
Jesse smiled as he could feel the tears coming on. "What about Mommy?"
"I don't want any other Mommy, either," Olive smiled at Rachel who was also getting emotional.
"Can I tell you something, Oli?" Jesse asked.
"What?" Olive asked.
"Mommy and I don't want anybody else to be our Olive, either," Jesse said.
Before Jesse knew it was coming, Olive leapt up and wrapped her arms around her father's neck.