I Didn't Do It!

Who did this? I didn't do it! Oh really? You didn't do it? Then, who did? Monkey did it! Oh, I see, Monkey did it. Well, why did Monkey do it? I don't know, but he did it. You don't know? Okay, did you see Monkey do it? Uh huh. Well, I don't think Monkey did it. Yes he did do it! In fact, I know Monkey didn't do it. I think you did it. No, I didn't do it! You didn't do it? You can tell Mommy, it's okay. Did YOU do it? (head nod)

Poor Monkey! He's so innocent and gets blamed for everything. It's so easy to play detective when you have only one child. There's no need to wonder who did it. If a drink is spilled or something is broken or missing, we know who did it... it was Miss Alyssa. It just cracks me up that she thinks if we didn't see it happen, then she can (1) blame Monkey, (2) just say "I didn't do it!", or (3) simply act like it's a mystery how it happened. I certainly enjoy the creativity and struggle to keep a straight face when listening to Alyssa describe what happened. I do not hesitate to put Monkey in Time Out for something he did not do, just to see the look on her face.

I recently got an e-mail from Parent Center about preschoolers and lying. It's pretty common for preschoolers to start lying because they don't understand that it's wrong yet. Sometimes, they might really forget that something happened. Or, they are really sorry that they did something so they try to believe that they didn't have anything to do with it. Children have really vast imaginations. It's hard for them to distinguish between what's real and what's fantasy at this age. They don't fully understand what it means to be untruthful until age 5-6. I guess that's the more appropriate time to start teaching truth and consequences.

Meanwhile, I will continue to work on explaining the difference between truth and lying. I know it's important for her to know that I'm happy when she does nod her head in admission. I really want her to feel comfortable telling the truth and knowing that she's not going to get into trouble for accidentally spilling her drink or knocking something over as long as she tells me about it. Since Monkey is just an innocent bystander, there are certain things that are immediately dealt with and certain things that I'd just like to hear from her what happened. I don't know why Monkey keeps doing all these things he's doing, but the stories sure make me smile.