Lying is for the Dogs

Drive through my neighborhood on any given Saturday during this time of year and you will literally sees millions of kids playing organized soccer.

Well maybe not millions, but it sure feels like it.

My six-year old daughter is one of them.

Sometimes I think she that just loves hanging out with her friends and doesn’t even realize that she is playing a game.

Well actually, it’s not a real game.

Since my daughter is only six, they don’t officially keep score.   They want to make sure that everybody goes home a winner.

That should prepare her perfectly for real life, right?

So I guess that means the goal she scored today didn’t really happen.

But I’m glad that she has found an activity that she really likes.  She even enjoys the weekly practice, although a few days ago she almost wasn’t able to join her team.

About 30 minutes before practice, when I was working on the computer, she came tip-toeing into the den with tears streaming down her face and a bump underneath her eye.

“What happened?”, I asked.

Sniffle sniffle.  Stutter stutter.  Tear rolling down her face.  Sniffle stutter.

“I bumped into the wall”, she muttered.

Considering that she is six and there are walls all over our house, I did the math and had no reason to question her response.

But about five minutes later, the guilt was killing her.

Now our kids, all three of them, are great, but they are kids and telling the truth can be a challenge sometimes.

Especially with the six-year old.

Like the time she promised me that she had brushed her teeth but quickly changed her story when I found her bone-dry toothbrush.

Or the time when she said that she had eaten the vitamin that I had left for her, but quickly changed her story when I found it in the garbage.

I have since made it very clear to her that doing something wrong is a bad thing, but lying about it is a whole lot worse.

Fast forward to the eye-bumping incident.

Like I said, bumping into a wall seemed like a very real possibility, but after a few minutes her conscience was killing her and she realized that the truth would set her free.

It was, in fact, not a wall that she had she bumped into, but rather it was our dog that scratched her while they were playing.

But why lie about it?

“I was afraid that you were going to make the dog go to sleep,” she said with a tear in each of her eyes.

Come on, how sweet is that.

At the age of six, she is willing to take the fall for the family dog.

The same dog that loves us so much that every time we come home, she pees.

EVERY time.

Seriously.

As cute as that may sound, IT IS NOT!

It is cute though when she runs up to greet you, starts peeing, then quickly stops when she smells something funny in the air.

You can almost hear her thinking, “I smell pee!  I know it’s here somewhere.”

Kinda like that scene from the movie “Up” where midway through a sentence the dog sees a squirrel and is immediately distracted.

But thankfully, the peeing is the only annoying thing that she does.   We are truly lucky to have her and despite this latest incident, she is GREAT with the kids.

Nearly four years ago, one of my co-workers brought in several dogs from his “accidental” litter at home.   He said, either somebody takes these puppies home or they go to the pound.

That was an offer we could not refuse.  So we didn’t.

I guess something good did come out of my last job.

This dog has become a member of our family.   She sits on the couch with us while we watch TV.   She sleeps in the kids’ bed, from time-to-time.

And if my wife had her way, the dog would have a place-setting at the dinner table too.   (Fortunately, I have finally won that battle.  For now.)

But there is no question that our family would not be complete without her.

In fact, as I sit here typing, she is right next to me, keeping me company.

I don’t know where my daughter found out about dogs being put to sleep, but I guaranteed her that we would not be doing that.

I told her that I’m sure it was an accident.  And that the dog didn’t mean it.  All of the cliches from page 17 of the parental handbook.

Fortunately she knew that I was telling the truth.

And I’m glad, that this time, she did the same.