IKEA frame story...

On Tuesday I went to IKEA with 2 girlfriends and their babies. My main objective was to get these large clip frames that I have been wanting for several months. I was so excited to finally have them that I requested Bob hang them up the same day. He said it was the worst hanging project I have ever asked him to do - BY FAR. When I took this picture, I imagined a blog post title that said, "This is a Picture of the Greatest Husband EVER!" I really do appreciate his determination and desire to get them just right. They look AWESOME and I can't wait to fill them with pictures.

I was also so excited on Tuesday that I went ahead and ordered one of the pictures I knew I wanted in these frames. It arrived yesterday and I temporarily hung it in the bottom right corner frame. It looked great.

So today I was doing laundry and talking on the phone to a friend. Allie and Caden came rushing in saying that Parker had broken the new frame with Caden's picture. They were very animated and worried as they had witnessed the destruction. Luckily I was fairly in control of myself this morning and took a little time before I ventured into the living room to see the damage. Sure enough Parker decided in one of his lovely moments that he didn't like the picture and pulled it down. I put him in timeout for about 20 minutes and let him know that he would be paying to replace the frame. After thinking about it, I also decided he would be paying for the gas and toll fees to get to IKEA again (45 minutes away).

A few minutes ago I decided it was time to collect the $15 to replace the frame, etc. I took him into his room and we got out his money jar. I made him get the money out and give it to me himself. After he had done this and cried for a minute about not having any money anymore, he began to tell me "what happened". In a very serious and convincing tone he told me that he didn't actually break the frame. It had broken by magic. He was just standing there and magically the frame had fallen and broken. Hmmm. Because of the way I had temporarily hung the frame back up, I thought this might have actually been true. He knows how to work people, including me. "Is that the truth? Are you being honest?" He stood by his story. It just fell down. Then I asked him to look me in the eyes and tell me it had broken by magic. He couldn't do it. He kept to his story but kept looking down. When I told the other kids what he had said they just laughed like it was the craziest thing they had ever heard. They SAW what happened.

Just now as I was writing this, I decided that he needed to also have a consequence for lying to me. I told him that he needed to go to time out for lying to me about the frame and magic. In his charming way he said, "I'm just kidding." He thought he might get off the hook but he didn't. I feel like we have our hands full with this one. It proved to me what I already know. He knows how to work people.