Forgiveness

On Sunday afternoon Steve and I were sitting at the kitchen table enjoying our lunch and a little conversation. The kids were in the basement playing and all seemed well and happy. It was, of course, too good to last. Sam came running upstairs complaining of something that Tyler had done to him. Being the wise parents that we are, we counseled him to go back downstairs and work it out with his brother. Sam left and Steve and I continued to enjoy our lunch. A few minutes later we could hear Sam downstairs yelling, "Get off of me, get off of me!" Steve called the boys up and had them each recount their own version of what was happening, starting with Sam. It went something like this:

Sam (tearfully): "Tyler was pinning me on the ground and he wouldn't get off of me."
Steve (with great wisdom and patience): "Tyler, were you pinning Sam to the ground?"
Tyler: "Yes."
Steve: "Why wouldn't you get off of him when he asked you to?"
Tyler: "I was trying to make him forgive me!"