A Conversation With My Son

Today my children were cleaning up my son's bedroom because both of them had been party to the mess. In the midst of their work, they had a spat. Hannah yelled at Seth. Seth then yelled to inform me that:

"Hannah's mad at me and I didn't do anything!"

Sometimes I intervene. Sometimes I ignore it because I want them to work it out.

Tonight, rightfully or wrongfully, I ignored them.

A little later while his sister was otherwise occupied, Seth informed me of *what really happened*.

"Mom, did you know that Hannah was mad at me, and I didn't do anything to deserve it?" he emphasized.

"Oh?" I said. "If I were to ask Hannah to tell me her side of the story, what do you think she would tell me?"

He thought for a little bit. "She would tell you that she was folding a blanket," he replied.

"And.....?" I asked.

"And while she was folding her blanket, I blew at it," he answered.

"What happened when you blew at it? What would she tell me then?"

"She would tell you that it made her have a hard time folding it," he stated. Then, realizing his error, he added quickly: "But I didn't know it would be a problem!"

We had a chat about his less-than-honest plea of ignorance, but I will confess to really enjoying this conversation. He thought through the issue from another perspective and ended up spilling the beans.

Think I'll try that method more often.