The Truth

These days, I am home with Bo and Ellie. They are pretty much on the go constantly. They may watch 15 minutes of tv, but that's all they care to watch. Then it is on to something more exciting.

Ellie wanted to watch a few minutes of Dora this morning as I was folding laundry. Bo was playing 'jet ski' with his Bass Pro Shop toys in the sink upstairs. I know that I have to check on this play every now and then (before he floods the house). I went upstairs and noticed that Drew's light was on. As I walked in, I noticed legos scattered on the floor and paper shredded all around his desk. I know I made his bed and straightened up no more than an hour prior to this. Then Bo comes in.

Bo: "I didn't come in here."
Me: "Are you sure? Did you play with the legos?"
Bo: "It was an accident. I'm sorry."
Me: "Why is there paper all over the floor?" (I couldn't tell what it was from)
Bo: "I didn't eat any candy."
Me: "What candy? Did you eat candy here?" (then I remembered that Drew had a pack of pez in his desk)
Bo: "Well, he should've put it way back on his desk where I couldn't get to it."

Ah... I realized he has no idea what the 'truth' is and what a 'lie' is. This isn't easy to explain to a 4-year-old. I had to really break it down to him and I think he gets it. I guess that might be a pitfall of having four kids. Sometimes you assume kids understand concepts that the bigger ones already do. Anyway, after explaining the 'truth' to Bo, telling him things and making him decide if they are true or not ('Mommy slept in Bo's room last night" - not true. "Bo ate candy and knew it was Drew's" - true), he cleaned up the mess.

I count this as one minor mommy victory this morning.