Tattle Tale

Remember being young and using the word "tattle tale"? I do! I kinda hated tattle tales...the kids who would tell on you for doing something you would have otherwise gotten away with. That was the worst! I remember one time in 3rd or 4th grade when we had to do the multiplication grids as quizzes; I hated math so much and was convinced that I stunk at it that when a quiz or test came up, I knew that I would fail. So one time on our weekly math quizzes, I traded my paper with my friend who filled in all the right answers for me...Yikes! The kid sitting next to us was a tattle tale and told on us! I got caught! Obviously in retrospect, I should have gotten caught and in trouble...which I did!

As an adult, I still kinda hate tattle tales but for a totally different reason. I have three little tattle tales that run around my house. One is worse than the other two, but they each have their moments! The reason I even thought to post a blog about it is this; secretly, I really depend on it sometimes...shhhhhhh! I don't have an eye witness to everything that goes on in my house, though I'm pretty sure I can predict what's going on. But even still, my tattle tale children come in handy every once in a while...okay, daily!

I know that while I appreciate it, they should never know that because I certainly don't want them to actually think it's a good quality to have. So, I balance it like this; if a child comes to me and says, "mommy..." in that tone that is always followed by a snitch, I say, "Are you going to be a tattle tale?" I am trying to teach my kids the difference between tattleing (i.e. telling so that your brother or sister gets in trouble) or purposeful telling (i.e. telling about an event that caused you or someone else to get hurt). Certainly I want my kids to feel that they can come to us for anything that is hurtful and they should never feel that they will get in trouble for telling about these things.

It's a delicate balance for sure and one that is by no means perfected. But it's a reality for me every day. It makes me laugh really. I never thought that I would even care about tattle taling as an adult. But here I am; hating it cause it drives me nuts, but depending on it cause it helps me through my days.