Sage Advice

The person who says that children "don't really know what is going on half the time" is a fool, and probably doesn't even know a child, personally. Go ahead, write it down, I'll wait.

My children know. And they aren't genious, Einsteins either. They are pretty much normal, everyday, bright, easy to get along with children. But, they see everything, hear everything, and fill in between the lines to hear things that aren't said.

This has been demonstrated to me several times in many situations over the past few weeks, but I will share with you one instance that happened this morning. It's not too serious or personal to share, but it makes my point.

My children know, somehow they know, without me saying a word, they know. They know I have just spent 30 minutes cleaning their bathroom. They know that each time I clean their bathroom, I put out fresh hand towels. They know that after I clean, I like to take a shower. They even know the days that I will spend a few extra minutes showering so I can shave (both legs). They know the precise moment that I will step out of the shower, dripping wet, pretty much defenseless and helpless, to barge in and confess that they have made a mess. (Usually it is one twin "confessing" for the other one.) They know exactly how long they have to run and hide while I "make myself presentable" to walk across the house and check out the mess.

Here is what they don't know: Which tube of cream they were putting on each other. How it got all over both of the fresh hand towels. If there was anything in the toilet when they hurriedly flushed it as I rounded the corner.

How do I know that they know? Because this kind of thing rarely happens when I'm out of the shower, fully dry and dressed. Because, I was looking for the Desitin just the other day and couldn't, for the life of me, find it anywhere. Every time I put out fresh hand towels, they get messed up within the first 45 minutes. Every. Stinkin'.Time.