Pretty Little Liar

Of course lying is abhorrent behavior and should not be condoned. However there are times when children try blatant lying and a parent just needs to take a moment and reflect on the events that occured during the lying because it was kind of humorous. - After the child has been disciplined, of course.

So a few days ago, I walked into my very clean bathroom to find toothpaste smeared all over my mirror. Ugh, I thought. I just cleaned this and what rugrat could be so insensitive.

I figured I knew which one, so I called in my beautiful princess. The child who always wants to please and can be so compliant that at times it is scary. (We don't come from compliant stock, you know)

I said, "Sarah, who did this?" as I pointed to the smeared mirror. Without blinking, without pausing or batting an eye she said...Isaac did it. Now, I was pretty sure this wasn't true, but I can't just call her out without investigating, so I had to get Isaac.

"Sarah," I said, "Go get your brother." She replied in a very sweet voice, "Yes, mommy." She smiled a lovely little smile and skipped out of the room sing-songing, "Isaac, mom needs you."

Soon Isaac appeared and I repeated the question. Now, Isaac is 11 and why would he put toothpaste on a mirror when he could simply wash it off his hands. Plus, Isaac is the only child I have that when directly questioned cannot get away with falsehood. Isaac denied his guilt and looked indignantly at his sister when told what she had said. Yep, we had found our culprit.

I turned to Sarah and told her that I knew she had lied and I was very upset. Immediately the waterworks got turned on and she sputtered out a little "I'm sorry".

Please don't get me wrong. I didn't succumb to the waterworks trick. Sarah was punished quite sufficiently for her wrongdoing. But I was amazed at the ease in which this complete blatant lie just flowed from her mouth plus she showed such happiness at the thought of her kindest brother taking the wrap for her.

Needless to say, my eyes were opened a bit. Aaron's response to all this was "See I told you, it's not always me". Ugh.