Little Lies

I get this phone call while I'm in line at the post office. The LC has spent the night with her BFF and as soon as I'm through I'm off to pick her up. I ignore the call, figuring 5 minutes more won't make a difference in calling the mom back. It rings again. "Let me call you right back." I say and hang up. They frown on chatting on the cell phone while you're in line.



When I'm free, I call back and get this story.


Both girls are in trouble. Someone went into the mom's bathroom and spilled her (only) bottle of perfume. Neither girl will fess up and they're both in hot water. Apparently someone thought it would be fun to pour perfume into a spray bottle and spray stuffed animals with it.

Now, my first reaction is to think the other kid did it, because mine knows a world of trouble falls on her if she messes with stuff like that. Basically it isn't in her character. However, the friend has been in trouble before for lying, more than once over pretty serious stuff. But the mom says they've both lied to her, and she's fed up.

OK, I'll play.

I walk in and say "This is the last opportunity to tell the truth." Mine says she didn't do it. The other one says her sister was there, the perfume was already open, and she was trying to clean it up. The sister is dragged in, and the sister says the friend did it, and talked about doing it the day before. But, of course, she didn't see it. The LC agrees, the friend says her sister was there. It's all one big mess.

The friend is grounded for a month from the phone and can't have her tv or other stuff. I tell the LC the same will happen to her, but this is just for show in front of her friend. I have my suspicions that she didn't take part. Then I get her in the car.

On the way home, while she's crying, I ask "Do you know I love you? Do you think even after all this, I would stop loving you? Do you think anything could make me stop?" We've had this talk before; she wants to be good, and when she makes a mistake, she feels as though she won't be loved. So any time there's an issue, I remind her nothing she does makes me stop loving her.

That said, we talk about what happened. She maintains she didn't do anything. I say "You know in your heart whether you did it or not. If you didn't, and your friend is blaming you, what does that say about your friend?"

I think she's getting it.

I tell her just to have a quiet day, with no TV and with a little cleaning, and not to worry about punishment. So a few hours later I get a call. The mom and the friend are on the way over. The friend confesses, and apologizes. I'm a fair sport about it, but inside I'm seething.

The LC is getting a good hard look at what it means to be dishonest, and how it affects other people. Hopefully she'll take it as an object lesson. For the record, the LC isn't in trouble at all. But mom will definitely be watching this friend.