Pride Goeth Before the Fall

On our way home from picking up Carter at the sitter's, we asked him how his day went -- as usual. Then had to expand on that -- anything fun or interesting?

He started talking about how he was helping a physically disabled girl from his class during gym. Their unit right now is gymnastics. I was curious where this story was going to go, but felt a warm spot in my heart at the prospect of hearing what a caring, helpful boy we have.

Then the plot took a turn when he talked about the girl's other assistants, including some college boy who could do back flips. "Then I did the Worm," Carter said proudly. The worm? Why? "Because they wanted us to showcase our talents!"

That's it. End of story. He only mentioned the girl so he could mention the assistant and get to the main point -- his talent for doing that obscure, not quite break-dancing move known as the Worm. Nice. We are too proud.

After supper, Carter was volunteering to clear the table, even wash it off, too. "See, I'm doing this and no one had to tell me," he said. I was getting suspicious. Was he trying to not be selfish because of the earlier story? Was he up to something? Or is he really just the good kid I hope he is?

When I heard him cleaning the litter box, the red flag went up. What is going on? What alien came in and switched places with our son?

Then I remembered a conversation from this weekend. He asked if he could take his Nintendo DS to school so he could play it on the bus -- since every other kid does that. I think my response was something like: "What happens if you lose it? You know, we're not replacing it. I just don't think you're responsible enough to keep track of it and keep track of getting off the bus in time. You don't do anything unless you're told or reminded." Like what? He asked. "Like we have to remind you every night to brush your teeth. And you never take a shower unless we order you. And when was the last time you cleaned the litter box?"

So this 10-year-old schemer has apparently been thinking about that all day. He cleared the table, washed it, cleaned the litter box, swept the floor in the bathroom, brushed his teeth and was in bed 5 minutes before bedtime.

Impressed? Don't be. When I went in to check on him, he relayed that list of accomplishments in short order, then asked, "Now can I take my DS on the bus?"

Sigh...