Letting A Sleeping Dog Lie

Last Friday was Show and Tell in our youngest daughter’s pre-K class and, as usual, she was VERY excited about showing and telling. It’s a monthly event at her school and one that is taken quite seriously – choosing just the right item to share with her classmates is a huge deal.

To most Americans last week, Decision ’08 meant the presidential election, but at our house, it meant making that all-important Show and Tell selection.

So I was pleased when our youngest decided she wanted to bring a photo of her 18-month-old cousin from Oklahoma. She talked all week about what she was going to tell the class about him, and which picture she would bring.

But when we arrived at school Friday morning – the Big Day – her teacher came over, bent down and said, “So are you going to bring the special Show and Tell you told me about?” And our daughter shook her head yes.

Then the teacher looked at me and said, “What time are you coming?

“Oh,” I replied, “I didn’t know the parents were supposed to come to Show and Tell this month” since I was STILL under the impression that this special item was my nephew’s photograph.

“Well maybe I misunderstood,” the teacher said. “She told me you were going to bring your dog to show the class this afternoon.”

“Interesting,” I smiled, “since we don’t OWN a dog.”

Turns out our little llama had told her teacher we had a dog because that week we had fed our good friends’ black Lab while they were out of town. Wouldn’t be the first time she had “stretched the truth” (which sounds so much less offensive than the word “lied,” wouldn’t you agree?!?). For example, she told someone this past summer that her father had dressed up like a clown at her circus-themed birthday party, which had absolutely zero factuality to it. It was about 110 degrees at her mid-July shindig, and my husband is a sweater. I wouldn’t be that cruel.

Let’s just say that our youngest may never receive the Honest Abe Lincoln Award at school – but she may be in the running for the Most Likely to Become a Politician honor. I’m just sayin’.