Accidents Happen

Friday night we had some friends and their twin 5 year old granddaughters over for dinner and fun.

Everything was going great.

In fact, it was going too well.

The adults were all sitting at the dinner table, and had just commented on how well the girls were playing. One of the twins came in and asked for some Valentine's candy that was out. My friend told her that it was too late and that she could not have any. And off she went.

We continued on with our conversations and about 5 minutes later, Maddie walked into the kitchen.

"Um, Mommy- if I lock the door, will it cause a fire?"

"No, but if a fire were to happen, we might not be able to get to you if the door is locked. Now, go play." And off she went.

It wasn't until later that night, when I was putting Maddie in bed that I noticed all of the open candy wrappers beside her bed.

Wow. Well, at least I know it wasn't Maddie. She wouldn't have done that. She knows better than to eat in her room, especially after the girls were told no candy.

Fast forward to the next day

"Mommy, I really need to tell you something." Guilt was written all over her face.

"What, baby?"

"Way-ul, last night, they were eating candy and kept telling me that I should eat some. I said that I didn't want any, but they kept begging me to. Some candy accidentally got opened in my hand, and I accidentally put it in my mouth, and then I accidentally swallowed it."

I could hardly contain my laughter. But I did and put on my stern face.

I explained that while I was proud of her for telling me, I was disappointed that she did what her friends were doing even though she knew it was wrong. I almost used the whole "if your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?" thing, but I didn't. I'm saving that one for later.

And then she countered with the fact that I didn't tell her that she couldn't. Only her friends' grandmother told them. And, that I should be really proud of her for not locking her door like her friends told her to, because she didn't want to be trapped in a fire.

When everything was said and done, I put all of her candy on top of the refrigerator and told her that she couldn't have any for one week. That would be her punishment.

I dread Saturday.

I'll have to confess that I've accidentally eaten most of it.