Christina M. Currie
Christina M. Currie's Touch of Spice column appears Fridays in the Craig Daily Press. E-mail her at firstname.lastname@example.org
Craig Children are such bad liars.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that they get better at it.
Luckily, at 8- and 6-years-old, my kids are still at a place where you just want to laugh out loud at some of the things they think they're getting away with.
My girls love coming to the office with me. There's usually a computer they can play games on and there's a large room in back where they can watch movies and spread out their toys.
It's an ideal situation. On those days when traditional child care falls through, I can still work and they're in an environment that's different and exciting.
It had been so quiet that I'd forgotten they were there. Any parent will tell you that spells disaster, so I rushed back ready to grab a fire extinguisher.
It wasn't necessary.
They were hiding under the table, pretending it was a playhouse, with their toys spread about.
Mess not withstanding, it was as good a situation as I could have hoped for.
Then I noticed a large stalk of houseplant taped under the table.
You have to understand that about a year ago on a similar day at the office with mommy, the girls got reamed for shredding nearly every leaf off a plant and spreading them around the floor like rose petals.
Yep, it was the same plant.
Commence the yelling.
According to 6-year-old Nikki, it was 8-year-old Katie's idea. Katie confessed, and the situation didn't escalate past a stern lecture and a few empty threats. They could either be on their best behavior or they could spend their days at the home with a babysitter they truly dislike.
A few minutes later, Nikki came out of the back room with one of the plant's leaves taped to shirt like a broach.
"Nikki, were you messing with the plant, too?"
"Nikki, are you sure you weren't messing with the plant?"
I walked her over toward a co-worker.
"Nikki, can you look at him and tell him that you weren't messing with the plant?"
It was then that she finally noticed her accessory.
Children live in the moment. The past and the future aren't really concepts that factor into their decision-making process.
That's why judicial systems don't consider them as culpable for their actions as say, parents.
Kids set themselves up to get caught. They can have chocolate surrounding their mouth and on their nose, and they'll tell you they haven't been into the fudge.
Unfortunately, it seems to be easier to learn to cover your tracks than it is to learn that lying is wrong.
Once children are capable of more advanced reasoning, they realize that they're playing the odds when they tell a lie and the odds are that they won't get caught.
The fact is that I've mostly been there and done that, which gives me an advantage.
Which is a darn good thing. Despite what kids think, parents don't have near enough advantages.