The Blame Game

"Moooommmmmmmmyyyyyyyy, Becki hit me!"

"Moooommmmmmmmyyyyyyyy, Jennifer told me to shut uuuuuuuuppppp!"

There was a constant litany of "Moooommmmmmmmyyyyyyy" tales in our house growing up. One of us was always tattling on the other. We'd blame each other for everything: water on the floor, stealing stuffed animals, drawing in our picture books (that was mostly me, but I digress).

I thought I had a few years before Gracie and Luke started the Blame Game. But, when daycare/school started, they started encountering other children who heard all kinds of things at home. They hear all that whiney, yucky talk and they inherit it. I still remember the first time Gracie sing-songed: "Mommy, look at hi-im!" and pointed at her brother. Of course, 5 minutes later, Lukie sing-songed it too: "Mommy, look at hi-im!"

"Gracie's a girl, Lukie. It's look at her, not him."

That went on for about a month. I tried ignoring it, but it was SO obnoxious. I've noticed that the dreaded phrase has not been spoken recently and I hope it never comes back.

The new thing is blaming each other for things. You know. It wasn't me, it was her?

Me: "Ew! Somebody went poop. Lukie, did you go poop?"
Lukie: "No. Gracie went poop."
Me: "Nope, I'm pretty sure it is you that is stinking up the house."
Lukie: "No! Gracie!"
Me: "Gracie, did you go poop?"
Gracie: "No! Lukie! Lukie went poop!"

You can see how we go around and around about this. If I did not just grab a child and check their diaper, we'd be there all day! It's not just about poop.

Me: "Oh, no! Look at this mess! What happened?"
Gracie: "Lukie did it."
Me: "Lukie threw all of your toys all over your room?"
Lukie: "NO! Gracie!"
Gracie: "Lukie did it!"
and so on....

I'm sure this is just a small portrait of what the next 16 and a half years will look like.

"Who painted the wall?"
"Lukie did!"
"Gracie did!"

"Who ran over Mommy's flowers?"
"Gracie did!"
"Lukie did!"

"Who drove the car and did not put gas in it?"
"Lukie did!"
"Gracie did!"

"Whose actions led to World Peace?"
"Mine!"
"Mine!"

That's what I thought.