straight home. I know the parenting tips, I'd drawn the line, now I had to hold it. But at the top of the hill her tears of rage turned to tears of sadness. The apologies were flowing. "I love you", "I'm sorry" and "I'll listen better" came streaming out of my now remorseful child's mouth. Maybe it was the fatigue from taking her up that hill, or maybe it was the sight of the other children laughing and playing and having so much fun. Whatever it was, I made a decision I now know I should have. I should have held the line. We should have got in the car and gone home. But both my wife and I began to feel sympathetic. It was her last night of soccer.  Others were having fun, playing games and soon would get their medals and certificates for having played all summer. If we left, Emma would miss all of that. I saw in my wife's eyes that she didn't want Emma to miss out. Neither did it. And so, with the best poker face I had, I sternly warned her that she had one more chance, and she went back to play again. While the rest of the night went okay, I'm disappointed with how we handled the situation. Why? Because we allowed ourselves to lose perspective. We allowed the heat of the moment, the tearful plea of a 4yr old, and our desire to save some face with the other parents,