"Getting Away with it"

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of being in charge of my 6 and 8 year old siblings. They are an energetic and inspiring pair and I absolutely cherish the time I get to spend with them. My 8 year old sister is starting to become the book worm that has been blooming in her since she was 1 (no joke- she has loved books forever!). It used to be that the pictures enraptured her and she could sit for hours flipping through pictures. Then spoken stories became riveting. She loved being read to or listening to stories on tape. Now, she is diving into the world of written text. And she has worked her butt off to get there! I had the pleasure of sitting in the living room, reading my own book, and peaking over the top to just watch her. Her long legs flopped over one side of the lazy boy chairs with her head resting on the other. Her mouth often moving as she worked through the words on the page. Her obvious engrossment in the story of beauty and the beast along with an occasional smile at something in the plot. It filled my heart to see such a beautiful thing. I love to be witness to the progression of learning- to be part of the story and see the success. Sometimes as a teacher, a year isn't long enough to get past the struggle of reading or a topic in math, so it is an extra special blessing that I get to see my cherished sister take her steps into the world of learning and words.

Another highlight was making cookies to decorate. While rummaging through mom's cupboards (i have no idea why she was) my sister found a bunch of icing in little squeeze tubes. Since they had no idea what they were, I promptly demonstrated by drawing on them and telling them to lick-- I think they thought I might get in trouble for that one! We came up with the plan to make cookies to decorate with these new fangled icing things and in the course of our discussion, I asked if mom had plans for the icing. Neither of the two knew, so I nonchalantly said "Well, then I guess we can use them."
My brother said "maybe we shouldn't cuz we might get in trouble."
"Well," I said, "I think it should be okay. And you won't get in trouble because I am in charge. And I can use them without getting in trouble." Thinking that my logic was good because I was obviously the one in charge right now and just am beyond the 'get in trouble' stage with my mom. But apparently that didn't fit in my brother's mind. His eyes got big and filled with horror
"That would be bad because then you would get away with it!" as if getting away with it was the worst thing in the world. Ahhh... I love the sweetness of six year olds. And the fact that I can "get away with it."