Funny story about timeouts. . .
Last weekend I needed my husband to sign the back of a check so I could deposit it through my phone.
We both needed to sign it and my full legal name is rather long. If you’re familiar with mobile depositing, you know you also have to write the “for mobile deposit only.”
I was trying to tell him where to sign the check and somehow, I have no idea how, we escalated.
Suddenly he backed up, put his hands in the air, and said, “I’m done.”
And I responded, “You don’t *get* to be ‘done’.”
Clearly, I was not in my healthy place either.
Then he paused, looked at me, and said “time out.”
Begrudgingly, I let him walk away.
He then added “This is great! I’m going to abuse the s*** out of this thing!”
Here’s the thing: it’s not possible to abuse a Time Out. Time Outs are a healthy and sometimes necessary tool to navigate an escalating situation and stop it.
Use of Time Outs will change the dynamic of your relationship.