Earlier this week Bear and I had a long talk about telling the truth. As we were leaving for the library I noticed two things: (1) the fish tank was littered with food and there were two
very fat fish swimming (thankfully still alive!) about in there, and (2) our little tank where our newfound friend, the cricket, was hanging on for dear life atop a piece of bread lest he fall into the pool of water sitting at the bottom.
After cleaning out the fish tank, drying the cricket tank and trying to settle some traumatized pets, I asked Bear what happened.
Bear: Um, Chipmunk did it.
Me: What? Really?
Bear: Uh huh. Chipmunk did it. He opened the thing on the tank and put the food in and then poured the water on the cricket.
I put the kids into the car and then made our way to the library. On the way I got to thinking.
How could Chipmunk open the fish food (It's a screw top)? Where did the water in the cricket tank come from? So I asked Bear again.
Me: So what did your brother do again?
Bear: He went to the bathroom, turned on the sink...yeah, then walked slowly to the cricket and opened the top and poured the water in.
Of course, at this point I knew something was fishy (pardon the pun).
Me: So how did the food get in the fish tank?
Bear: He opened the top of the tank and poured the food in.
Me: Really?
Bear: Uh huh. He really did.
Me: Did you know that your brother doesn't know how to open the fish food?
Bear: He doesn't?
Me: No. He can't turn on the water in the bathroom either. He can't reach it.
Bear: He can't?
Me: No.
Bear sat silently for a while probably trying to figure out her next move. So I decided to give her a way out.
Me: Bear, you know if you poured the food in the fish tank and the water in the cricket tank, I'm not going to be mad at you. I however, will be very disappointed if you lied to me.
Bear: Lied?
Me: Yup. Lying is when you don't tell the truth about what really happened.
Bear: Oh.
Me: It's okay to make mistakes, but saying that someone else made the mistake is a lie.
After a bit of silence, Bear speaks up again.
Bear: Mommy?
Me: Yes?
Bear: I put too much food for the fish, and I poured the water on the cricket.
Me: Did you?
Bear: Yes, I don't want to lie.
Me: Thank you for telling me the truth.
Of course, I won't bore you with the rest of the conversation which I'm sure I repeated the "no lying" point so much Bear is sick of hearing it. I, however, will happily report that so far there have been no fish or cricket casualties much to the delight of Bear and her guilty conscience.
