"i just couldn't control it"

Today as I am at my computer working, I can hear The Babe and The Boy in the family room playing. I hear The Babe commanding The Boy: "No hitting!" and again, "No hitting!" and again and again, louder each time. Well, soon The Boy comes into my office, and he is crying and holding his head. I ask him what happened, and he says "hit", I ask him what hit him in the head, and he says The Babe's name. She will learn quickly, I'm sure, now that he can talk she will need to be more careful.

So, The Boy and I go back into the family room and I ask The Babe what happened. She freely admits that she did hit The Boy. I love this stage of childhood... no little fibs yet. I ask her why and she says she was trying to keep him from doing something (what, I don't know), and she needed him to be careful. I suspect he hit her first, because what was with all the "No hitting" remarks earlier, but since she's not complaining about that, I won't address it right now. I told The Babe that even if she thinks The Boy is doing something bad, she has no reason to hit him, and I told her to tell him she was sorry. She did, and they shared a hug.

30 minutes later, I hear a small scuffle in the family room again, and The Boy starts crying, and I hear The Babe instantly say "sorry", but not like she really meant it. Again, The Boy comes into my office to rat The Babe out. The Babe is right behind him. I ask her if she hit him again, and she says "No, but my hand did. I just couldn't control it". OMG, it was all I could do to not laugh in her face. In fact, I think I did laugh. I just couldn't help it. Years from now, when I'm having a visit with The Babe's therapist, answering for this incident, I'll say I didn't laugh at her, but my mouth did. I just couldn't control it. Ha!