Little Ears

Yesterday I went on a Mommy-Ben date. We went to Friendly's and got ice cream together. We had a nice time talking a bit, but mostly he was interested in coloring his activity page. When we sat down they gave us some glasses that looked like 3D glasses. Brian had previously told me that we needed 3D glasses for a movie Maddie got for Christmas, so if they were still passing them out to grab another pair. The waitress was sweet. She talked to Ben and they discussed the weird red lense glasses. He said his sisters got ripped up at home so she didn't have any now. She winked at me and said we'd better get some for her before we left. I took that to mean she would bring some. Score! Mission accomplished I figured. Well, when she brought our ice cream she had either forgotten or I had misunderstood what she meant. In any case, no glasses. When it was time to leave there was no one at the hostess desk, so I grabbed a pair. After all, they are free and I didn't get one, but I was a paying customer, so I should be able to have one, right? I didn't ask. Just took one off the desk and left. Fast forward to dinner - Talking with Brian with the kids at the table we were all talking about how exciting we were for Maddie to have new red glasses again. I absent mindedly said something to Brian about how I took them from the front or joked about having to steal them, can't really recall what I said. I only remember the effect. Ben heard: "MOM STOLE GLASSES FROM THE STORE!!" Ugh. How do you explain to a kid? How do you prove to them that no one actually cares? How do you explain that it's okay for Mom to take something without asking when that would never be allowed for him? How do you fix it? You admit you shouldn't have taken them and tell your five year old honesty police that you will do the right thing and fix it. You feel ashamed to have been caught. You feel embarassed that you have to take back a pair of stolen "free" glasses for the sake of honesty. You apologize to your kid for making a bad choice. You think harder about what you do next time before you do it. You remember that little ears hear everything and will catch you if you mess up. Ugh. I've been a bad mommy. Sorry kiddo. I'll do better next time. Thanks for reminding me of who I am and what I should be.