Busted!

Ninety-nine per cent of the time, I can tell when my kids are lying. Come to think of it, I can tell when Simon is lying, too. He gets this funny look on his face that I can't describe, but I know it when I see it. Braden is probably the best liar in the house because he at least makes me doubt my built-in "lie detector".

Malorie is the worst liar. She has never learned that, if she's going to lie, lie well. Keep her story straight.

Tonight she was standing outside our house with her friends annoying the workers who were trying to fix the burst water pipe outside. Simon opened the front door and shouted for her to come in, but she took off running. When she came home, we asked her about it, and she said, "I wasn't sure if Simon was shouting me or not". I then asked why she didn't come back and check, and she replied, "Because I thought it might have been John (one of our neighbours)".

Braden piped up then and said, "I heard you tell your friends that Simon was shouting you", and she agreed that she said that. So again I asked why she didn't come home to check. She responded, "But I thought it could have been John".

So she thought it was probably Simon but didn't check because it could have been John. John wasn't even outside. Simon was. Sheesh! Thank heavens she's a bad liar since I can't convince her that it's best not to lie at all!