Greetings. I should warn you, my mind has wandered this morning and while I wait for it to return, I thought I'd write my blog.

A brief excerpt from a conversation between DW and Princess:

Princess: "Hey Mum. I don't want a baby girl anymore."
DW: "Oh, why?"
Princess: "Well, Little Man's kinda cool"

This is an important step because in the months leading up to Little Man's emergence into this world, Princess was adamant she wanted a little sister. It got to the point where she would burst into tears if anyone suggested that the new baby might be a boy, or how great a little brother might be. As it was, we had no idea what the sex of the impending child would be - though DW was certain it would be a boy. She likes to tell people how "she just knew" which is usually when I chime in with "you were just as sure Princess was going to be a boy" - but that's another story.

Anyway, Princess was so excited when Little Man was born, and had been reminded many, many times that it wasn't up to us to decide the sex, that she accepted Little Man as the beautiful little baby he was. Also, he had a penis, which was a novelty we hadn't prepared her for. So the tantrums over having a little sister were a thing of the past, but she still mentioned it occasionally for a long while after. Well, Little Man is now 20 months old and Princess and he are playing together more and more. It is very gratifying as a parent to see your two children playing happily together, not demanding your attention or bothering you. It can last several seconds before Little Man bursts into tears because of something Princess has done to him or taken from him. Or because he is tired or because the wind shifted. He can be a bit of a sook.

Princess has taken to blaming Little Man for pretty much anything she thinks she can get away with. Oddly enough, she doesn't actually get away with much, but she tries anyway. She also lies without thinking twice. Perhaps if she thought twice, her lies would be more convincing. A couple of days ago, she came to tell me that Little Man had let himself into the study, somewhere they are not allowed to go unattended. Now Little Man is so called because he is little, and a man, but mostly because he is little. He cannot yet reach high enough to turn the door handles. So I decided to challenge Princess but she refused to back down so we conducted an experiment. I asked Little Man, recently removed from under the desk in the study, to try to open the door to the study again. Little Man was not privy to the experiment and quite happily obliged, but as I expected, was not able to open the door. Interestingly, he had grown tall enough since I last saw him try and can now fully grip the handle, but as he is on his tip-toes, he still isn't able to turn the knob.

Princess and I were watching this process, and when it became obvious that Little Man wasn't going to be able to open the door, Princess decided he needed a demonstration, so tried to teach him on the spot. So I stopped the experiment, satisfied that I had made my point, and a little unnerved at how close Little Man had come to opening the door. Still, Princess wouldn't back down. After several more minutes of me questioning her story, she caved and admitted she had opened the door.

I am told this is a very natural stage of development. It shows her creative mind jumping in to save her skin, so to speak. I remember doing the same when I was little. I was quite good at lying. I discovered early that to lie successfully, you had to believe what you were saying, and to stick as close to the actual truth as possible. Too little detail and the story is hollow, but too much detail is impossible to keep track of. So I would tell the story of something that happened that was almost indistinguishable from the facts, differing only in the part relating specifically to my guilt. Occasionally I would have to tell a whopper but that was usually too much work so I refined my process to be less grand. I saw the amateurs around me fall on their lying faces, tripped up by some ridiculous detail or the outlandishness of their fabrications. I was caught out making a few rookie mistakes, but I moved on and became adept. It would seem that Princess is following in my footsteps. Of course, she might be following in DW's footsteps, as it is possible that DW is even better at lying than I am. I mean, if she were really good, how would I know? Hmmm. That's food for thought. Still, I guess it comes down to the fact that when DW tells me a story, I believe it, and when Princess opens her mouth, I am given to doubt. However, she is only five in two weeks so I probably should refine my lie-detecting skills because she is going to be dangerous when she becomes a teenager.

Ciao!

Thought for the Day: I have found a clue to becoming immortal - "All good things must come to an end."