Charlotte’s last day of preschool was this week, and one of their final projects was a Father’s Day gift. It was top secret. Charlotte ‘refused’ to tell me anything about it, partially because of her mother’s coaching and vigilance.
Charlotte’s not exactly a vault when it comes to secrets. Last year, when her Aunty Lori’s birthday was approaching, we had gotten a birthday cake to surprise her with when she came over. We instructed Charlotte, “No matter what, don’t tell Aunty Lori about the cake until we’re ready to bring it out.”
When Aunty Lori arrived, Charlotte couldn’t contain herself. She immediately burst, “AUNTY LORI! WE GOT YOU A CAKE… DO YOU WANT TO SEE IT?!” She then opened the fridge and pointed to the “surprise” cake.
Anyway, Charlotte had been pretty good about the Father’s Day secret, largely because of her mom’s reminder “shushing” whenever the topic came up (ok, whenever I brought the topic up). I was informed that she would be bringing the gift home on the last day of school in a bag that I would not be able to see through.
When she completed her second to last day of school, it seemed like she was almost in the clear.
But when one of noticed some purple marker on her face when she got home from school, it prompted the following conversation:
“Charlotte, did you use purple marker today?”
“Yes, I used it to decorate the bag for Dad’s cookies…”
Doh! She immediately realized her slip up, largely because of her mom’s reaction and emphatic, “SHHHHHHHHUSH!”
But it was too late, the cat (or should I say cookie?) was out of the proverbial bag.
When she realized her mistake, Charlotte made of her trademark, adorable, slightly embarrassed ‘oops’ grins (an early, bonus Father’s day gift).
While I’ll certainly enjoy the cookies, it will be hard to top the grin.
I hope you enjoyed today’s serving of ‘mac & cheese’ (possibly followed by a cookie treat.)
