Pants smoking

Z’s pants aren’t quite on fire yet, but they are smoking:  I think he is taking his first tentative steps into the wide world of lying.  (Aw, what a big boy he is!)  As our own little Howard Cosell, he generally keeps a running commentary of every single thing he thinks and does (“Z find plug…Z pull plug out”).  He also announces what he did in the past (“Z went playground, climb ladder, did very good job, didn’t fall”) and makes requests for what he would like to do in the future (“Z put shoes on, go walk, eat Mighty O donut”).

When I pick him up from playgroup, we talk about what he did while we drive home.  Normally, he recites a list of toys or friends that he played with (“Z play car wash, draw crayons, see Milo…”).  Today he listed the things he ate.  I prompted him by asking about the different things I’d packed in his lunch.

“Z go playgroup, eat pancakes with peanut butter!”
“Pancakes with peanut butter?  Yum!  Did you eat anything else?”
“Z go playgroup, eat avocado!”
“Mmm, avocado.  Is that all you ate?  Pancakes and avocado?”
“Z go playgroup, eat orange!”
“You had oranges too?  What a lucky boy!  Was that the only fruit you had?”
“Z go playgroup, eat blueberries!”
“Oh, I love blueberries.”
“Z go playgroup, eat Booty!”
“Pirate’s Booty is so yummy!  You had lots of good things to eat.  Did you eat anything else?”
“Um, Z go playgroup, ummmm….”
“Did you have any cheese?”
“Look see school bus…”
“Yes, that is a school bus.  Now back to playgroup.  Was there any cheese in your lunch?  Cheese with crackers?”
“Um…look see water.  Greenlake!”
“Yes, that’s Greenlake.  We go for walks around Greenlake, don’t we?”
“Z like go walk Greenlake with Mommy Daddy Mei-mei Cowboy.”
“I like to do that too.  And I like to eat cheese with crackers.  Do you like to eat cheese and crackers?”
“Um…Z like ride escalator!”
“Escalators are a lot of fun, aren’t they?  Sharing is fun too!  Did you share your cheese and crackers with friends at playgroup?”
(His face lit up and he was very excited to answer.)
“Z go playgroup, share Combarty (Havarti) cheese crackers, friends!  Cyrus eat Combarty.  Z eat strawberry!”

So it appears that Z traded his cheese and crackers for Cyrus’ strawberries.  Or, more likely, he helped himself to the strawberries and later noticed Cyrus helping himself to the cheese and crackers (it’s kind of a free-for-all at playgroup).  Regardless, it was very amusing to watch him struggle with how he was going to approach the subject of the uneaten cheese and crackers.  He opted for avoidance until I gave him an out, and then he jumped all over the sharing scenario.  So he’s not quite to the level of lying yet, but he is learning how to leave out parts of the truth for his own benefit.

In “NurtureShock”, Po Bronson explains that all children lie and how lying is actually an indicator of intelligence.  Most children will start to lie around 4 years of age, but some precocious children will start as early as 2 or 3.  That’s our Z!  Liar, liar, smarty-pants on fire.