Katie and the Red Dot

Ever since she started talking, and if I found Katie was about to travel to the Land of Fibs (not truths or a lie), I would tell her that I knew she was telling me a fib because she had a red dot on her forehead. In the beginning she would run to the mirror and lift her bangs and, of course, see nothing that resembled a red dot. I told her that only Mommy’s, Daddy’s and Grandma’s could see the dot. It slowly evolved. If she was in the middle of telling me something and I asked to see her forehead, she’d cover it with her hand and tell me, “Really, mom! Seriously! (which was a sure sign that she was telling a fib). She would always admit it and tell me she was sorry for fibbing (and we would go into a detailed conversation about how we should tell the truth.) If she would tell me something and I’d say, “Really?” she would automatically lift her bangs so I could see her forehead and say, “Yes, Mom. See? No dot.”

(I can’t take credit for the red dot forehead idea. Rosie O’Donnell talked about it on her show years ago. She said that her son believed the red dot until he was about 6. So years ago I told Katie that when she turned 6, it would be harder and harder for Mommy and Daddy to see the red dot.)

One morning when she about 4 ½ years old, Katie was having Frosted Mini-wheats for breakfast. She told me she was done eating and I asked her how many mini-wheats she ate (because her bowl still looked quite full.)
She said she ate 9.
I told her that I didn’t think she ate 9.
She lifted her bangs, and I told her, “Nope – I see a red dot. You didn’t have 9.”
With her bangs lifted, she went on . . .
She said, “8?”
I said, “No. Still a red dot.”
She said, “7?”
I said, “Nope.”
She said, “6?”
I said, “Maybe, I can’t quite tell – the dot is kind of pink.”
She said, “Oh, I had 6, Mom. That pink dot that you see is just an old fib.”

She made me laugh so hard that morning. . . an old fib. So funny.

Katie turned 6 on June 29th. Some days I wish I told her I could see the dot until she turned 20. But I guess she probably would have figured out my secret sooner or later. Ah, well. . . Ella is right around the corner!