Earlier that day, a parcel had arrived in my husband's name and when he came home after work during the meal he announced that the package was actually for our daughter. With that, I quickly chipped in to say that she could only open it if she ate all of her dinner. She seemed happy enough to oblige.
I had finished my meal and had finished feeding our baby girl and took her into the living room to play. I left our 6yr at the dinner table hoping that the package would be enough incentive for her to finish her dinner.
A few minutes later she emerged saying that she had finished everything on her plate. However, she had a rather sad and sorry face on her and she said to me that she did not want to open her package anymore and that she wanted to leave until the next day.
Suspicions set in and I asked her why that was to which she responded "I just don't want to". Now that is very unlike her as she often opens everybody's else parcels/gifts quicker than lightening and I attempted to probe deeper to find out what it was that she had done. Finally, with a teary and shaky voice she said "I accidentally..." and stopped at that, following which, much tears and snivelling ensued.
I questioned her further, trying to think of various things that she may have done, but to everything I suggested she had said no. Eventually she said that she would only tell her dad, so he gently took her aside into another room and she told him. I tried to listen from where I was sitting and all I could get was "accidentally put the food in..." With that I knew exactly what she had done.
My husband brought the sorry little thing back in and she meekly confessed that she had put the rest of her dinner into the food recycling box and pretended that she had eaten all of her dinner.
Well, normally I would have been extremely angry but for some strange reason I was very clam on this occasion, possibly because she had admitted herself that she had done wrong. I told her that I was glad that she had chosen to tell the truth and by showing that she was sorry pretty much straight away just about made up for the wrong doing. Perhaps I should have punished her anyway but in the end we chose to let it go and allow her to open up her parcel.
My husband and I laughed about the incident after she had gone to bed and we couldn't decide whether she was a conniving little devil or that she had shown a certain level of intelligence. Either way we were glad that she could not keep it from us and knowing that what she did was wrong and then eventually admitting it, made us feel a little better in that she's not a bad enough person to do something wrong and pretend it's all OK.
Hopefully she won't be doing anything like that in the future ....
Suspicions set in and I asked her why that was to which she responded "I just don't want to". Now that is very unlike her as she often opens everybody's else parcels/gifts quicker than lightening and I attempted to probe deeper to find out what it was that she had done. Finally, with a teary and shaky voice she said "I accidentally..." and stopped at that, following which, much tears and snivelling ensued.
I questioned her further, trying to think of various things that she may have done, but to everything I suggested she had said no. Eventually she said that she would only tell her dad, so he gently took her aside into another room and she told him. I tried to listen from where I was sitting and all I could get was "accidentally put the food in..." With that I knew exactly what she had done.
My husband brought the sorry little thing back in and she meekly confessed that she had put the rest of her dinner into the food recycling box and pretended that she had eaten all of her dinner.
Well, normally I would have been extremely angry but for some strange reason I was very clam on this occasion, possibly because she had admitted herself that she had done wrong. I told her that I was glad that she had chosen to tell the truth and by showing that she was sorry pretty much straight away just about made up for the wrong doing. Perhaps I should have punished her anyway but in the end we chose to let it go and allow her to open up her parcel.
My husband and I laughed about the incident after she had gone to bed and we couldn't decide whether she was a conniving little devil or that she had shown a certain level of intelligence. Either way we were glad that she could not keep it from us and knowing that what she did was wrong and then eventually admitting it, made us feel a little better in that she's not a bad enough person to do something wrong and pretend it's all OK.
Hopefully she won't be doing anything like that in the future ....
