tell me no lies

Arrrrgggghhhh. For the third time in her life, Elizabeth is grounded. For what? Lying to me about where her toothpaste was this morning. Sounds absurd, huh? But there it is. Her sisters wanted to borrow her toothpaste - since theirs was empty, and she hid it from them. More specifically, she hid it in her sister's room, in a basket that Kate keeps her softball gear in. I discovered all this after the twins came to me and said Elizabeth wouldn't share her toothpaste. I asked her to do so, and back came the twins minutes later to tell me that now the toothpaste was apparently missing. Upon questioning Elizabeth - and let me tell you I was very clear that I was very unhappy to be dealing with this - she denied knowledge of said toothpaste's whereabouts. Repeatedly. Finally, after I threatened her with a spanking - which I have not had to administer to her more times than you can count on one hand in her entire life - she came clean and retrieved the toothpaste from the basket.

I hate lying. Almost everything that really really upsets me/pisses me off/angers me hugely has something to do with lying. It completely destroys my ability to trust. And I am by nature a trusting soul. I have a tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt. It's my positive glass half full mindset. Which I guess is why it upsets me so much when I am lied to. The other thing that really sets me off is related to respect, and the lack of it that is shown in so many situations. Of which I believe lying is one.

Anyway, she is grounded for a month. No playdates, no birthday parties, no TV, no video games. She is only allowed to leave her room to use the bathroom, to eat, or do chores. I plan to have her picking up a lot of dog poop just to make sure she doesn't feel I am denying her opportunities for fresh air.

Am I over reacting? I don't think so. I know it was just toothpaste, but it might as well have been a hundred dollars as far as I'm concerned. I will not tolerate lies, and everyone in this house needs to understand that. Everyone.

So I guess I have a personal slave for the next month, which sounds not so bad except that I feel so shitty about the whole thing...damn, sometimes it really sucks to be consistent and follow through...