Thursday, January 27, 2011

Honesty is the Best Policy

I try to get my children to tell the truth. Really. I do. But sometimes it seems like I'm getting nowhere. Fast.

Last week after the laundry was finished, Joshua was having a fit. He was absolutely certain he had put two new shirts in the wash, but now they were nowhere to be found.
We looked under beds, behind doors, through everyone else's folded laundry.
The shirts were nowhere.
I was baffled. And Joshua was HOT.

Finally, I had an urge to go look in Matthew's closet. I walked into his room (He was laying in bed. He'd been there for the ten or so minutes the rest of us had been tearing the house apart while looking for the shirts.) opened his closet door, and saw it. Sitting there in the closet was a basket of unfolded laundry. The basket which contained both of Joshua's shirts.
I looked a Matthew and asked, "Did you know this was in here?" (Dumb question, I know.) "Did you know we've been looking for these clothes?" (Yeah. OK. I was full of brilliant questions.) He said nothing. And I just grabbed the basket and walked out.
Joshua was happy, but I was even more baffled.
Did Matthew think he was being funny?
Was he trying to cover up the fact that he hadn't folded laundry, even though he said he did?
Why didn't I look in his closet sooner???

Matthew and I had a conversation about honesty the next day. Not sure how impactful it was. Not sure it solved the problem. But I do know this:
The next time I can't find a basket of laundry, I'm looking in Matthew's closet FIRST. *wink*

Karen

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness!!! Good thing that did not happen at my house. I think Matthew's backside might have become intimately acquainted with the rod that God says not to spare. Grrr!

TheUnSoccerMom said...

Oh... we have had ISSUES with honesty in my house. From little things like the laundry, to big things like hanging out w/ people she knows she shouldn't.

Oh the many talks, groundings, spankings we had. So far, this school year has been better. Not perfect, but better. :o)

Karen Hossink said...

Anonymous - LOL! I'll tell Matthew to be thankful he didn't pull that in your house. *wink*

Jodi - I'm glad honesty has not been a major issue for us. That's part of why I was confused - wondering if Matthew thought he was being funny by frustrating his brother. (I mean, Joshua certainly does a fair job frustrating Matthew...Pay backs?) Anyway, I hope we won't keep going that route.
Glad to hear this year is going better for you.

Nichole said...

And again another REAL story that proves your ministry title to be true...its all about survival my friend!!!

Ronel said...

I can feel how annoyed you were feeling at that moment.... man of man I am not certain I would have handled it as well.

gianna said...

How aggravating! But good to know!

Karen Hossink said...

Nichole - And the ONE who makes it possible!

Ronel - Did my annoyance come through in my writing? *wink*

Gianna - Yeah. Tuck this one away for the future. You might find some interesting things in your guys' closets some day. ;o)

Wendy said...

Just going by Matthew's reaction, I'm thinking this had less to do with being dishonest about not doing a chore and more to do with a little brotherly payback. But at least now you know where to look if any of Joshua's clothes go missing again. ;)

Karen Hossink said...

Wendy - Yep. At least now I know. *wink*