Tonight wonderful story reported on the ABC World Evening News touched me. It also made me wonder about how much polar bear moms know about discipline. From what I saw, I could learn a thing or two about time outs from a great polar mom.

The story showed footage of how a polar bear mom slid one of her cubs into a shallow whole in a large snow bank. It was obvious that polar bear mom was upset and wanted her cub to stay there. The cub had scared a seal that she was hunting for dinner.When the cub tried to get up and get out of the snow bank the momma bear just growled. It seemed as though she was saying: "You're in time out! Stay there till I tell you your time is up!"

Needless to say the cub stayed there. Although, the news did not show what happened next, I am sure the cub stayed until the momma bear "said" his time out was over. This story instantly brought a smile to my face. It also reminded me of the times I attempted time outs with my son as he was young. Sheepishly, I have to admit that she had more control over her cub than I had over mine.

This story also warmed my heart. I felt akin to the momma polar bear. I could almost feel her frustration. She needed her cub to stay in that snow bank. By golly, he was going to stay!

As a young mother I felt that frustration many times. Keeping my little boy in one place was a challenge. There were some days that I felt I could never get him to sit still or mind me. I did not know how I would survive the day. Now I long for those days. Now that my little boy is far from little. He no longer needs time outs maybe the occasional time in: can you stand to spend 10 minutes with me... is more my demand.

I do believe that the wonderful polar bear does know more about time outs than me. I am also grateful for the news story on ABC. It has both made me smile and brought up some treasured memories. To momma bears and cubs everywhere: happy time ins!