Good Deed?

There can be no doubt; spring has definitely sprung in my neighborhood. The cherry blossoms (as well as my allergies) are in full bloom. The song birds are happily chirping, and all of our daffodils are open. I'm sure the report being finished has something to do with my sudden appreciation of the beautiful weather!

Before going to school yesterday morning, Robby asked if he could pick some daffodils to give to his teacher. "After all, Momom, those flowers are yellow and yellow is my favorite color. I think that they will make Miss Lauren smile." How could I say no to that sweet request. We stopped the car and picked a handful of springtime happiness to share.

Clutching his little bouquet, Robby was so proud entering the school. Miss Lauren, who obviously saw him carrying the flowers, did a fantastic job of feigning surprise when Robby finally presented them to her. After gushing about how nice it was for him to think of her and how beautiful the flowers will look in the classroom, she asked Robby a simple and benign question: Did you pick the flowers in your garden?

I was hoping that Robby would simply say yes to avoid the need for explanation. You see, we didn't exactly pick the flowers from our yard. We plucked them from the woods belonging to the "Old Lady." I didn't want to take the flowers from our yard because they looked so pretty. I justified sharing the flowers grown in the Old Lady's yard because she isn't home (she's been moved into a nursing home in New York) and they were just going to whither away without being enjoyed. 

I should be proud that Robby opted for honesty in his response, but I wish he would have just said yes. Instead he replied by saying, "No. We picked them from the Old Lady's yard. It's okay though, she won't call the cops on us this time because she wasn't home." 

His teacher seemed a little taken aback by his response, and I was left dumbfounded, able only to feign a smile. Trying to explain the history of the police complaints against us by a woman with dementia, as well as my reasoning behind taking her flowers instead of ours, seemed like a lost cause. So much for a nice gesture!