A few nights ago, Elliot was excited and wanted to play with me. I wanted to get him into bed. It was taking a long time to get him to focus on his night routine, and I was getting frustrated because it was later than usual. I wanted him to have a full night of sleep.

He pulled a blanket off of my bed onto the floor. I got sad. I sat down on the bed and then, foolishly, pulled the other blanket off and the pillows onto the floor, “Is this what you want?” I said. Not loud or with anger, but with sadness.

I usually have unlimited patience with Elliot, but not this time.

Elliot looked at my unusual behavior and said, “I’m sorry, Daddy.” I felt like a fool. We put them blankets and pillows back onto the bed. He told me about a dozen times how sorry he was over the next 15 minutes. He told me he was sorry for hurting my feelings.

A day or two later, he took a throw pillow from the bedroom chair and put it onto the bed. He immediately apologized and put it back. He told me he is not supposed to do that.

I am concerned how careful and apologetic he is. What is going on in his other household to get these kinds of reactions out of him? I do not think it is anything I do because I do not get angry at him, I do not yell at him, and I do not often do the kinds of things I did the other day (“Is that what you want?”) — perhaps once per year.

He was too apologetic, too quick to try to repair what he thought was a terrible mistake.