Little sneak

OK, I'm gonna "tell" on my oldest child, Kid 1.0.

For Christmas, Tot 2.0 got a new bathtub toy; a "Splash and Bubble Treehouse".

Anyway, this thing is held onto the side of the tub by several suction cups, one of which is on the end of a detachable plastic strap.

Last week, the strap went missing, basically rendering the toy useless in the tub. It was a bummer. Mary P (nanny) and I hunted through the house; starting with the usual hiding places (e.g., under the bed) and moving on the the more crazy places (e.g., in with the dress-up clothes), to no avail. Both of us asked K1.0 several times if she knew anything about it, explaining she wouldn't be in trouble, but we just wanted it back so T2.0 (K1.0 too) could play with the toy in the bath. She repeatedly said she didn't know anything about it.

So, today, after tossing the living room, I called Fisher-Price, to see if they might have a replacement part for sale—alas, they did not.

(Here's where it gets interesting.)

At this point (perhaps having overheard the call) K1.0 says to me "Mommy, I think I might know where the strap is,"...all smiles. So I say, "Really, where?"  So she turns and (somewhat reluctantly) leads me to a secret hiding place in her room, in her closet. She reaches in and hands me the missing strap as if she's just saved the day.

The little sneak!

I say to her "So, did you forget you had put it here and just remember now, or did you lie to me and Mary P.?"

To which she reluctantly replies "Well, yeah, I think so."

----insert your favorite "you are in more trouble for the lie than the original infraction" speech here, including appropriate punishment---

At this point, I send her to time-out to think about this while I put the toy back together. Then, I go into her closet to see what else is in the stash and find about 1/2 dozen ornaments from the Christmas tree (I wondered where they'd gone) and the missing spring-bar from the toilet paper holder in the hall bathroom...which I had also asked K1.0 about when it went missing about a month ago, and which she also denied having any knowledge of.

(I'm going to give myself credit here for maintaining my cool.)

When she was done with time-out, I approached her about the TP holder and asked her if she remembered me asking about it, and if she had taken it...which she tearfully admitted. So, I had her pay me $2 of her tooth-fairy money for the replacement I'd bought, again telling her she was in trouble for the lie, and not the original infraction.

Now she turns on the waterworks, and says she's going to "tell the tooth-fairy on me for taking her money" and ask the tooth-fairy for eight more quarters—to which I reply that I'm sure the tooth-fairy would back me up on this and understand that K1.0 is paying for her poor choices.

So, we get through the storm of emotion and her anger at me and the drama of it all, and now I am having a "typical Mom moment" wondering if I'm raising a compulsively lying cleptomaniac...and where I went wrong. Or maybe she's just 5 1/2, and testing out consequences. Either way, I hope we are done with this kind of sneakiness.

Just to safe, I'm hiding my watch and good jewelry :-)

Good night all.