Hi, and thanks for checking out my blog! Are you as glad as me that spring is almost here? I can’t wait for the warmer weather. If nothing else, I’m looking forward to a change of scenery. Even if the scenery is just some crocuses and daffodils. This past week, I had a pretty tough week.
For starters, I did something I’m not proud of. I accidentally broke one of my mom’s favorite picture frames. It was one from her wedding (eek!). But instead of taking responsibility for it, I sort of lied about how it broke. And then I got caught in my lie. Let me tell, you it’s no fun when a lie goes awry.
The experience taught me a tough lesson: even though telling the truth is hard, lying can make a situation even worse. And the consequences for lying are probably far more terrible than if you just owned up to whatever you did in the first place.
Here’s what happened to me…
Having a ball
In my house, we’re allowed to play with a ball in certain areas; and it’s only with lightweight balls. Think a beach ball. Or a teeny, tiny foam ball. Our basement is one such place—as long as we stay away from the TV.
This past week, my friend Jeffrey came over to my house after school. Since no one was home, we played in the basement with the beach ball for a while, but then we got hungry. For some reason, we brought the beach ball upstairs. The plan was to grab a quick snack, then head back down to the basement before Jeffrey had to go home. On our way back to the basement, we walked through the den.
For some reason (maybe because we’re kids?), Jeffrey hit the ball to me. I hit the ball back to him. Then, we pushed the chairs off to the side to make our “field” bigger. I don’t know why I did it, but I thought it would be funny to spike the ball at Jeffrey. But instead of hitting Jeffrey directly or having him block it (which he had been doing every time!), Jeffrey missed the ball completely. And the ball knocked into my parent’s framed wedding picture.
“Jeffrey!” I screamed as we watched the ball knock into the picture frame. It felt like it moved in slow motion.
If only I had faster reflexes. Or was part cheetah.
Bad frame of mind
The picture frame fell to the floor and cracked. It wasn’t a huge crack, but anyone who paid close attention to the frame would see that there was a zig zag line of cracked glass along the side. And a chip where the frame hit the floor.
My first reaction was to yell at Jeffrey. “How could you miss it?!” Obviously, Jeffrey felt terrible. He offered to pay for a new frame. It was very generous of him, especially since the accident was mostly my fault. I wish the solution was as simple as just replacing the frame. But the frame looked kind of fancy; between the two of us, I don’t think we had enough money saved to buy a new one. Especially since I wasn’t very good at saving.
Second, my parents have been married for like a million years. There’s no way that any store still sells this frame.
“Maybe we should try and fix the frame?” Jeffrey suggested. “You know, make it look like we never broke it? My dad puts Crazy Glue on everything. What if we tried that?” I took a closer look at the frame. Hmm, maybe we could swap out the glass? Except it was a weird oval shape. But how would I even get to a glass store for a piece of glass? How do you even measure an oval?
As for the chipped part. Hmm. Maybe I could cover up the missing spot with a magic marker. But it was a pretty big chunk. And the wood was what I think my mom called “weathered.” So, it’s impossible to replicate unless you’re an artist like Pablo Picasso or something.
Nope. I was screwed.
Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt
After a long and difficult five-minute deliberation, I decided not to say anything at all. That was the first step of my lie going awry. Maybe my mom wouldn’t notice. I was positive my dad wouldn’t. He’s not that observant. My father didn’t notice when my mother got a new comforter and sheets for their bed. It was in a totally different color and style, too.
“You can always just blame me,” Jeffrey offered as he was leaving. But I couldn’t do that to Jeffrey. He was my friend and the only thing he did wrong was miss my spike. Plus, what if my mom wouldn’t want him to come over ever again because he broke things? “Call me if you can,” he added. “Though you might be grounded from phone calls.”
Thankfully, I didn’t have to call Jeffrey that night because no one noticed the broken picture frame. Several days went by before anyone noticed. It wasn’t until my mom was dusting the pictures in the den that she saw that the frame had been damaged. My lie was really going awry.
She asked my father if he knew what happened first. “No idea,” he said. “But we sure were a fine-looking couple. You don’t look like you’ve changed a bit.” After taking a moment to be flattered, my mom moved on to Jill.
“Nope, definitely not me,” Jill said, shaking her head defiantly. “I would’ve at least tried to fix the frame or replace it with something similar. Whoever did this was kind of a ding dong to just leave it.”
Finally, my mother came to me. When she asked me if I knew anything about the picture frame, I just shrugged my shoulders. “Not me. Maybe it was Mrs. P when she came over here a few weeks ago. She can be kind of clumsy sometimes.”
My mother took a moment before she nodded slowly. “Well, if you do happen remember anything, Noodle, please let me know.”
When she walked away, I breathed a sigh of relief. Off the hook, I thought to myself. Even though I knew deep down inside this lie had really gone awry.
Pleading not guilty
Later that night, when I was getting ready for bed, Jill cornered me in the bathroom.
“You do know mom doesn’t believe you, right?” I spit out my toothpaste, doing my best trying to stay calm. Don’t admit anything, Noodle, I told myself.
“Oh yeah?” I said to Jill as casually as I could. I didn’t want to accidentally reveal my guilt.
“If I were you, I’d own up to breaking the frame before you get in even bigger trouble.” I tried not to show any expression on my face until Jill walked away. My heart was now beating a mile a minute. And I started feeling sick. As in, I might throw up, kind of sick. Maybe I should lie down. With “lie” being the key word in this situation.
I went to bed early. As I lay in bed, I felt worse and worse. Why did I lie? Why couldn’t I just admit that I’d messed up when my mom asked me the first time?
Although I felt exhausted, thanks to my lie gone awry, I was too guilty to sleep. Before I thought I couldn’t feel any worse, my mom knocked lightly on the door.
“I came to say goodnight, Noodle.” And with that, I burst into tears.
Liar, liar pants on fire
“It was me, mom. I broke the picture frame. But I felt too embarrassed to admit it. And now instead of feeling embarrassed, I just feel terrible.” There went my career as a secret agent. I couldn’t stand the feeling of having a lie go awry.
“Thank you for finally telling me, Noodle. That was very brave of you.” To my great surprise, my mom gave me a hug. If I were the grown-up in this situation, I would’ve shouted, “You’re grounded forever!”
Instead of yelling (which my mom doesn’t do—she just has an “I’m-disappointed-in-you-tone” that’s even worse), my mother gave me some advice: “Being human means making mistakes from time to time. If you make a mistake once, fine. It’s a lesson. But if you make the same mistake twice, then it’s a choice. Think about how you can learn and grow from this mistake…so you don’t repeat it again.”
As the saying goes, a lie has no legs. (It’s a funny image, right?)
In all honesty
I already knew that my mom was an amazing person, but the way she handled my mistake made me appreciate her even more.
The biggest lesson I learned is if you make a mistake, honesty is the best policy. Own up to what you did (or didn’t) do. And if the issue was something reasonably preventable, figure out how you can avoid doing the same thing again in the future.
And as for my foreseeable future, I think Jeffrey and I will stick to spending time outside. Thank goodness for spring.
Until next time, be your best you.
Do you have any stories about learning an important lesson from an experience? Please share them with me in the comments section!
