There are a few genuinely stupid things we all seem to do in life. For example, lying to your mother about something petty.
It's just stupid.
I mean, it may seem like a good idea at the time to be all, "I didn't do it!" when your mother notices a piece of chewed gum on the side of the car and asks if you threw gum out the window. But, when that same mother tells you to leave it alone and you don't, then you stick your fingers in that chewed gum that you swore wasn't yours? She's totally going to know it is yours. And, she's going to call you out for it.
"If that's not your gum, why did you stick your fingers in it? Do you realize how gross that is?" is probably what she'll say.
Or what I did say, just before Alexis realized she was trapped in a tangled web of stupid lies.
The wise thing to do would have been to come clean. Unfortunately, Alexis wasn't feeling wise at the time. Instead she dug herself into a deeper and deeper hole until finally she was sobbing. "FINE, I LIED!" she confessed.
"Really? I hadn't figured that out," I replied.
"Yes, you did," she sadly retorted.
This all happened in the midst of what was supposed to be a quick run to two stores. However, the word "quick" can't really be used around a newborn because HAHAHAHAHA! You thought that would take an hour? Let's try three.
That meant Alexis had a looooooong time to ponder the repercussions of getting caught in a lie. It was good that she had a loooooooong time because my rule for infractions like that is that Alexis has to suggest her own punishment. In my head, she had to clean up the gum for being a doofus-face and throwing it out the window. But, there needed to be a separate punishment for lying about it. Maybe a day or two without TV? That seemed right to me.
It didn't seem right to Alexis. Instead, she said she should have a week without any electronics. No TV, no Kindle Fire, no nothing.
I agreed to her terms.
It's not my fault she's harder on herself than I am on her.
Later that evening, Alexis found herself with not much to do. She wasn't allowed to watch TV, she couldn't play games on her Kindle, she didn't even have music she could listen to since her devices all count as "electronics." So, she found herself reading books to Mila.
As she read book after book, I stopped paying attention and focused on trying to pick up some of what I'm calling The Disaster Zone. It's also known as The Family Room, but it's new name is much more fitting. The only half paying attention thing is to blame for the fact that I missed the first half of a pretty fantastic conversation. I caught the second half, though.
"Mila, don't ever lie to mom. It's sooooo not worth it," Alexis told her little sister.
Here's to hoping Mila takes the advice to heart.
