(Note: When referring to my daughters – my oldest is 5 yr old Z-Dogg, Bug is the older twin, and Sam is the younger twin. I prefer to use their nicknames here, and no – Sam is not a Samantha!)
What do you do when you realize one of your 3 yr olds is an extremely convincing liar? Well, if you’re me, you try to hide youramusement while teaching her the importance of honesty. Amusement because I am a terrible liar. My face gives everything away. If you’re ever short on cash, just play me at poker – you’re sure to clean up…
But back to the lie in question – I took the twingle’s to my salon to get trims. Lauren at Salon Amore is wonderful, and does a fabulous job for not much more than those walk-in places (the ones that always seem to give every child essentially the same boy or girl cut). So we walked out with 3 gorgeous ‘do’s, complete with cute flower clippies. The girls played away the afternoon, and while Bug was napping, we found clumps of hair upstairs. Based on color and length, we knew it was hers. And since Z-Dogg and Sam lie as well as I do, we could quickly determine that Bug cut her own hair.
Confronting the budding stylist, though, was another story. As she alternated between cries of, “I didn’t do it!” and “I don’t know!”, I was flashing back to Family Circle cartoons with “Not Me” running through the house leaving destruction behind. Twice she admitted she cut her own hair, and a second later was so convincing in her pleas of innocence that I actually doubted that I had heard her confessions! In the end, she came clean, saying she did it because she wanted to cut hair like Miss Lauren …and she lied because I was going to be mad. We had a very long talk (hair grows back, but lies can’t be untold) and punishment was handed down.
But, oh, so many emotions – anger (I just paid $15 for that cut!!!), frustration, and a fair but of hilarity. Is hilarity an emotion? Well, let’s just go with it…but what I am left with is just how utterly committed she was to her lie. This was a pretty clear cut case, but what about when it’s not that way? How am I ever going to know when this child is being truthful? And how many times has she lied and gotten away with it?? And what do you do when you realize that you 3 year old’s brightest career prospect at this point is as a con artist?
Well, I’m going to be working on those questions – and would love to get ideas from those of you who have been, or are currently in, the same predicament! Oh, and if you’re wondering – she cut along her jaw line where we fortunately taper her hair. It’s not overly noticeable unless she sits still long enough to get a good look. And no, she’s rarely still long enough for that….
I really would love your thoughts on this! By commenting below, you will be entered into a drawing for a child’s bracelet of your choice! You’ll get another entry for following my blog, another for “Liking” Twingle Beads on Facebook, and another for sharing the link to this entry! If you already follow the blog and Facebook, just comment below that you want to be included in the drawing with your following info. Drawing will be Thursday, April 21, 2011. Once you’ve shared the link, just comment on my Facebook page to let me know. :o)
xox, Lisa
