Tattling...

As a former first grade teacher (and a big sister, and a long time babysitter), I thought I had heard just about every tattle in the book. Max and Abby are well versed in this skill and have passed on their knowledge to their little sister Lucy (why they can't just teach her something useful like going potty or eating with a utensil and not dumping it down the front of herself I'll never know).

I tell you what though...she has really floored me with some of her tattling. Obviously you can't take EVERY tattle seriously otherwise it will take over your life (or school day) so I try to explain to the kids what would constitute the need to come running to tattle (obviously serious things that I would NEED to know about).

Okay, back to Lucy. I can tell when she's coming to tattle because she always starts with the sing-songy "Moooommmmy"! When I ask her what is wrong she is usually ratting out her sister for some minor offense (usually true but sometimes questionable...gotta give Abby the benefit of the doubt sometimes). Well, lately Lucy has found a different member of the family to tattle on...our cat, Tai!

The first time she did it I was stumped. I heard the call of the tattle..."Moooommmmy!" Asked her what was wrong, getting my response ready...then she said, "Tai touched my Bobby (her lovey)". Uhhhhhhh, my mouth hung open for a few seconds as I tried to come up with some kind of response to this? Does she want me to make the CAT apologize? Put the cat in time out? I just told her that I was sorry and maybe she should pick bobby up off the floor and put it somewhere that Tai couldn't get it. Her response? "Oh yeah, I forgot"! OY!!!!

Tai's other "supposed" offenses have been that she ate a crumb off the floor (that probably fell off Lucy's chest after falling off her fork and down the front of her). Tai has also jumped up onto the couch when Lucy was sitting there (GASP!...the horror), "hit" Lucy (walked past the child and swished her tail on her leg), and was laying at the top of the steps (leaving plenty of room for Lucy to go up or down but I guess Lucy didn't see it that way)!

I'd love to know what Tai is thinking about all of this... "Seriously kid? You're TELLING on me? Ooooooooh, I'm soooooooo scared!" :) I don't know why she's picking on the poor cat...her brother and sister give her LOTS of ammunition! Our other cat, Chi is smart enough to stay out of Lucy's way :)

Disclaimer... I have to say that neither of the cats has ever tried to hurt the kids in ANY way. Like I said, Chi avoids them at ALL COSTS and runs in the opposite direction when she hears the pitter-patter...umm...make that stomp-clomp of little/big feet. Tai will venture around them when she's feeling adventurous and even let them pet her and love on her (Lucy is at the top of the list)...she loves to have a little snuggle at bedtime as well. All this to say that there has been NO reason for any of the kids to fear the cats...Lucy just likes to tattle :)