I cannot tell a lie, for it was I.

Max is a tattle-tale. Normally we might have a discussion about tattling and when it is and is not appropriate. However, he tattles on himself. Maybe the fact that he volunteers incriminating information is a sign that he's very in-tune with his conscience.

There have been times when he's come home from playing at a friend's house or even from nursery when he would nonchalantly say to me, "Mom, I wasn't very nice to the other kids" or, "Mom, I hit the kids". Then I would have to call the parent or nursery leader and ask if Max was being mean. They would always say, "No, Max was fine. He is just too cute." I gathered that he probably was hitting other kids, but no more than they were hitting him.

The other day I came out of the shower and was just toweling off when Max guiltily said, "Mom, I was playing with your make-up". That's when I noticed the brown streaks on his forehead and powder all over the floor. He'd even tried to clean it up himself, but must have known that he couldn't hide it from me. Yesterday I was telling him what a nice boy and a great big brother he was. Out came the confessions. "Well, sometimes I scare them by growling at them" and "Sometimes I jump on them" (he jumped off the couch and landed next to Ellie and scared her).

It's hard to discipline a child when they tell you something bad they've done. I feel like I'm punishing him for being honest with me. We usually discuss it so he knows it was a good thing to tell me, but a bad thing to do. I hope he's always as honest and good-hearted as he is now.