Monday, September 26, 2011

A guilty conscience



A few days ago Scott pointed out some graffiti on a hallway wall. We both figured it was Brooke, just because she has written on the walls in the past. I was going to wait until I could get all four kids together and look them in the eye and ask them who wrote on the wall.

Today, Brooke told me that someone had written on the wall by her bedroom. She said that it looked like John's name so it must have been John. What she failed to think through when she threw her brother under the bus was that John knows how to make his "J" the proper way and not backwards. And instinct told me that John wouldn't make his "O" into a smiley face.

I told her we'd wait until dad brought the lie detector home and then he'd be able to tell who did it. This really didn't phase her. She said she wanted to see the lie detector.

Jacob saw the writing and became "Mr. Junior Detective". He had the kids give him a writing sample and then compared it to the one on the wall. He also asked me to install a camera up in the hallway so we could tell who was writing on the walls. He came to the same conclusion that we had. The tagger was Brooke.

So Scott took Brooke on his lap and talked to her. Her guilt got the best of her and she crumbled.

I hope this behavior isn't a preview of what is in the future. She's already in a gang. Its the Callaway Monkeys.