Kenny... Future Attorney

During our morning routine, Chiara gets up first, gets ready for work, eats, and leaves -usually before anybody in the house is awake. (I try to wake up with her but it's soooo early!) I wake up about 7:00 to take care of the boys (get them dressed, fed, and out the door for school). Well, one day last week, the boys woke up with mommy while I slept in a little. I woke up around 7:30 to Kenny explaining something to me, which I can't remember. I looked at the clock and realized I needed to get moving.

I asked Kenny, "Did you have breakfast with Mommy?"

"Umm, Yes. We had some cereal and some B-bars," he replied.

Good, Mommy bought me some time. I can get the boys ready for school at a leisurely pace, maybe play a little, and get them to school on time. I did so, and headed downstairs with the boys to head out the door for school. I ran into the kitchen to get a b-bar (Kenny speak for granola bar) for myself, and noticed that the kitchen was spotless. The table was spotless. The counters were spotless. Everything was pristine. Definitely not a place where a five year-old and a three year-old would have devoured their morning meal.

"Kenny? Where's your breakfast stuff?"

"What?"

"Where are your cereal bowls?"

"Umm. They were clean, so I put them away."

I look in the cupboard, just to make sure... Not a bowl in sight.

"Kenny. Did you REALLY eat any cereal this morning?"

Kenny solemnly, and subtly, nodded his head from side to side in reply.

"Did you have ANY breakfast?"

Kenny responded with the same, solemn nod.

Exasperated, "Kenny... Why did you lie to me and say you had eaten breakfast? I would have gotten you some earlier, if you had told me the truth, but now it's too late. We have to go to school now."

Realizing he was in jeopardy of losing out on a previous arrangement he had made with Mommy, Kenny did his best to do some damage control. "Mommy said that if I kept my clip on green today, that I could play the Cars video game when I get home from school."

"Well, mommy might have to take your lying to me into consideration before she decides on that," I responded.

And then, courageously trying to protect his interests, he boldly asserted himself by saying the the following -word for word, an exact quote...

"But daddy... That wasn't part of the deal."

It was true. Mommy hadn't included anything about lying to daddy in her deal on playing the Cars game. The deal was, keep your clip on green, play the video game. That's it. Nothing about lying in that contract, anywhere.

"Well, unfortunately, the deal might change," I replied.

Realizing that the parents still had the upper-hand in the situation, Kenny went on to point out all of the many, many, good choices he had made in the last thirty minutes. I told Kenny that I would talk things over with Mommy, and that he would have a reply from Mommy when he got home from school.

As parents, we need to pay closer attention to the fine print in the contracts we make with our son, because obviously HE is!

FOLLOW UP: After discussing the situation with Mommy, we decided that not getting breakfast was punishment enough, and that if he kept his clip on green, we would honor Mommy's original agreement.

Kenny, at all costs that day, kept his clip on green.