One of those times you want to laugh, but can't because you're the Mom...

We were playing outside the other day. The boys were in the backyard; Paul was chasing Benjamin with a pine needle branch. They were both laughing and giggling when I went down to get the mail. As I came back around the house, Benjamin had turned the hose on and was squirting Paul. Paul stood there in shock for a minute, and then started crying. I immediately shout for Benjamin to stop--"What are you doing?!" Poor Paul was drenched from head to toe, and it was probably only about 60 degrees out! So, Paul was crying, Benjamin was crying because he was afraid he was going to be in trouble, and I was feeling bad for Paul and wondering what to say to Benjamin. Turns out, my reaction put enough fear into Benjamin I'm pretty sure he got the message--no squirting hoses at people when it's cold out. And Paul was fine once he got dry clothes on. It was then that I began to see the humor in the whole situation. After all, I did teach the boys both of those things--squirting people with hoses (typically when it's about 90 degrees) and tag with the pine needle branches.