What has he got in his pocketsssss?

Yesterday Dante and Dominic came to me excitedly to show me their new "pet".  It was a dead fly.  Dante had scooped it into a Tupperware lid.  At first I didn't understand that they were attached to the thing and I insensitively responded by saying, "Ewwww, gross!  Throw it away and make sure that lid gets put in the dishwasher!"  This was not well received.  I was met with two identical indignant pouty faces and rapid-fire objections:

Them: *in unison, discordance and repeatedly repeated LOUDLY* Pet fly not TRASH!  Pet fly NICE!

Me: Oh, it's a pet?

Them: Yeeeeaaaah (this is always said as a long drawn out two syllable word, 'yaaaay-yaaah')

Me: But it's dead!

Them: *gleefully* Yes!  Alexandra kill it for us!

*sigh*  I decided it wasn't that big of the deal if they wanted to keep a dead fly as a pet.  Having been a pet owner to living things for many years now, I figure why not, what's one more pet?  Especially one that is so low-maintenance.  They named it Cinderella. 

Today they upgraded.  The kids spent a lot of time playing out in the backyard today and at his been raining quite a bit lately.  They came inside gleeful and muddy and giddy.  Dante had his hand protectively covering his jacket pocket and Dominic was shouting excitedly, "New pet!  New pet in Dante's pocket!"  Meanwhile I could see Dante's hand clutching tighter and tighter around the outside of his pocket (I hoped that whatever was in his pocket was either already dead, or at least would be just as loved and cherished as Cinderella if he accidentally squeezed the life out of it) and defensively denying all such claims:  "No!  No pet in my pocket!  Quiet Dominic!"

I've learned that when the kids are trying to be secretive or deceptive, the best way to get the truth out of them is to act like it's no big deal and there's nothing to worry about and basically convey a tone of "Punishing you or stopping you from what you are doing is the furthest thing from my mind!"  Of course I don't actually say those words as the possibility exists that I might actually have to stop and/or punish them for whatever it is they are trying to hide, I just imply it with my facial expression and tone....that's not really dishonest is it?  And besides, at least 51% of the time it ends up being true.

So I put on my happy excited face and said, "Ohhhh, you have a new pet in your pocket?  What is it?!"  My tone positively beamed the message "I'm so excited that you found a new pet, and I think it's wonderful that you decided to keep it in your pocket!  Please share this joyous news with me!"

Hesitantly Dante reached into his pocket and pulled out a big fat worm, that miraculously had not been smooshed to a wormy pulp.  *whew*  Well that was no big deal.  Fortunately I am not squeamish about worms, and I could use this opportunity to demonstrate that 'fessing up to mom really doesn't always lead to being stopped and/or punished - which is vitally important so that they continue to let me in on what's going on in case I need to stop and/or punish them.

I got them a container and told them to fill it up with some wet dirt from outside, explaining that the worm would be much more comfortable and likely to live in this environment than stuffed into a jacket pocket.  They spent the rest of the evening excitedly watching the worm squirming around in his new home.  Three-year old excitement at little things is a wonderful thing to witness.