Since I am around a fair number of munchkins, I am a part of their dealings. I play with them, I read to them, and I teach them stuff. Basically, I am just another part of their world. That's great, but it comes with all of the other trappings of their worlds, too. That involves playing by their rules, and abiding by their justice system, too. Essentially, it's possible for one of them to tell on me. And if I'm just lucky enough, this will happen with more than one kid, on more than one occasion (hint: I am that lucky).
Let's start with the part that's my fault: I will occasionally stick out my tongue at one of the little kids. It's all in fun, and it's more like a game than anything else (think Peek-a-boo). In fact, they always laugh about it. It's not a malicious thing, even though we know it's not something you're supposed to do in polite company. Still, it was just one of those things that I do, and everyone has a good laugh about it.
Recently, however, one of the munchkins decided that she would incorporate this into her own repertoire. She doesn't quite have the mannerisms down, nor does she quite understand when it's all in fun. She is a kid, after all. So, she'll just randomly stick out her tongue and walk around like that. In my defense, I have no idea when she decided to start doing this. It's not like I had seen her recently when this started. No, she just decided to do this randomly.
Regardless, this was a behavior that needed to be curbed. My mom told her to cut it out, and then she asked her where she had learned that. You can probably guess what came next. Yup, she ratted me out. Her one word answer was, "Sam." Dammit.
Normally, this would just be a story about how I have to mind my P's and Q's around the kids. They pick up the things they see surprisingly well, and this is no different. However, everything that came after it really put the cherry on top.
See, my mom told the kid to stop, and then asked her if she wanted to "be in big trouble." It wasn't a real threat (it almost never is at that age), but she had to plant the seed that there'd be consequences. Well, she's a good kid, so she quickly commented that she wanted to stay on the good side of the law.
However, she now knew that there were consequences to this particular action. That brings us back to yours truly. There are consequences for this, remember? And I had taught it to her. By the rules of kid justice, I was also to blame and I shared responsibility for the crime. In other words, I am now in big trouble, too.
Better yet, I actually saw this little girl fairly recently, after the whole conversation about consequences occurred. I kid you not, within two minutes of seeing her, she stuck out her tongue at me and then told me that I'm in big trouble. I knew all of the back story, so I immediately knew what she was talking about. Let's just say that it took a lot of effort to keep a straight face when my two year old co-conspirator informed me of my status.
You know, I might actually end up with a time out at this rate.
Let's start with the part that's my fault: I will occasionally stick out my tongue at one of the little kids. It's all in fun, and it's more like a game than anything else (think Peek-a-boo). In fact, they always laugh about it. It's not a malicious thing, even though we know it's not something you're supposed to do in polite company. Still, it was just one of those things that I do, and everyone has a good laugh about it.
Recently, however, one of the munchkins decided that she would incorporate this into her own repertoire. She doesn't quite have the mannerisms down, nor does she quite understand when it's all in fun. She is a kid, after all. So, she'll just randomly stick out her tongue and walk around like that. In my defense, I have no idea when she decided to start doing this. It's not like I had seen her recently when this started. No, she just decided to do this randomly.
Regardless, this was a behavior that needed to be curbed. My mom told her to cut it out, and then she asked her where she had learned that. You can probably guess what came next. Yup, she ratted me out. Her one word answer was, "Sam." Dammit.
Normally, this would just be a story about how I have to mind my P's and Q's around the kids. They pick up the things they see surprisingly well, and this is no different. However, everything that came after it really put the cherry on top.
See, my mom told the kid to stop, and then asked her if she wanted to "be in big trouble." It wasn't a real threat (it almost never is at that age), but she had to plant the seed that there'd be consequences. Well, she's a good kid, so she quickly commented that she wanted to stay on the good side of the law.
However, she now knew that there were consequences to this particular action. That brings us back to yours truly. There are consequences for this, remember? And I had taught it to her. By the rules of kid justice, I was also to blame and I shared responsibility for the crime. In other words, I am now in big trouble, too.
Better yet, I actually saw this little girl fairly recently, after the whole conversation about consequences occurred. I kid you not, within two minutes of seeing her, she stuck out her tongue at me and then told me that I'm in big trouble. I knew all of the back story, so I immediately knew what she was talking about. Let's just say that it took a lot of effort to keep a straight face when my two year old co-conspirator informed me of my status.
You know, I might actually end up with a time out at this rate.
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