The Oreo Bandits

The girls are now responsible for clearing the dinner table, loading the dishes in the dishwasher, and wiping the table and counters. For the most part, they do a pretty decent job, although I do sometimes have to rearrange the dishwasher.

Thursday night, I left them to their kitchen duty and took Campbell back to my bathroom for his bath. While while he was splashing in the tub, Lily came twirling back, her face covered in chocolate crumbs.

When I asked her if she had eaten an Oreo, she looked a bit startled. I told her her face was covered in chocolate, and she said, "Ella told me not to tell you we had Oreos." I shooed her back out to the kitchen to get her sister.

Ella came back looking a bit stricken. I told her that the next time they sneak Oreos she should make sure her sister cleans her face up. Then I told her that I was upset at what they'd done because if they had asked me for an Oreo, I would have said yes since they'd eaten such good dinners.

I said that sneaking Oreos and then telling Lily not to tell me was the same as lying to me, and as a result they were going to go straight to bath and bed without stories.

Ella got that they were in trouble and did exactly as she was told for the rest of the evening. Lily, on the other hand, despite being present for my lecture, did not. She twirled through the rest of the evening, needing to be reminded several times about what she was supposed to be doing. Then, when I put them in bed without stories, she said, "Wait! You didn't read to us." I think that if Ella had been within reach, she would have smacked her sister. I reminded Lily that they didn't get stories because of the Oreos, and she burst into dramatic tears at the injustice of it all.

I do wonder what lesson they might have learned from this - not to sneak cookies or to be more careful at hiding the evidence when they do. I suppose only time will tell.