On buck-passing and distraction

Look at how cute he is! Exactly this is my problem.

Kye doesn't say much - "I dat", "no dat", "mamaaaa! (shriek)", "dadad?". He otherwise resorts to grunting and pointing.

I only recently caught onto the fact that my kids are far smarter than they let on. They feign confusion and cluelessness to avoid taking responsibility for certain doofish antics. Once in a great while, though, they slip up and Mama's mental light bulb fires on.

A recent dish-smashing session had me at my wit's end. Up to that point, I would have simply and firmly said "No!" and cleaned up the shards as quickly as possible. This time happened to be the third this week and was at the end of a long day of shenanigans and rough play.

I firmly pulled Kye away from the mess and scolded him thoroughly, then sat him in the corner. As I swept up, I glanced over at him. His lip was quivering, and when he noticed me looking he broke into a full wail. I stood up and rumpled my brow in frustration.

Kye's brain: "Oh, that didn't work. Quick! Plan B."

He pointed at the dustpan, shrugged his shoulders and said "Oops!" I stared at him in surprise, so he took advantage of my momentary paralysis and trotted out of the kitchen into the relative safety of the playroom where Rascal was beating on his Duplo blocks like a wild ape.

I made the fateful error of not going after him to finish our "discussion", instead choosing to pour myself a glass of wine and have a moment of peace. An error, because now he does this every time he's in trouble.

There's something about that lisped "Oops!" that foils me every time.