A Bird Did It and Other Lies

One of my sisters, who shall remain nameless, has started teasing Turbo during dinners. We're not usually lucky enough to have extra family at dinner time, but in the past two weeks we've seen Auntie ----- twice.  Yeah!

During both meals my sister has stolen food off Turbo's plate and blamed it on a bird. The first time (at our home), Turbo noticed quickly when a tortilla chip went missing from his plate and looked suspiciously at his Aunt as she was the only other human at the table.

Aunt: "A bird ate it. You should watch out for those birds."

Turbo looked toward the ceiling and my sister did a great job of convincing Turbo that the bird was just out of sight, but to keep trying.

Not the actual bird.

Last Saturday we had dinner at Red Hook Brewery to get out of the house after a long, snow-bound week and my sister and brother-in-law joined us there. It was crowded and loud and perfect.

Smiley was pushing herself passed her bed time as the meal wound down, but mostly she was delightful as she poured quinoa and broccolini in her mouth and down her shirt and all over that messy high chair.

Turbo doesn't eat quite as well as Smiley. In fact, to avoid a fight we ordered him two side dishes: bacon and tortilla chips. Turbo was thrilled and not interested in sharing.

But my sister had different ideas. While I was wrapped up with cutting broccoli for Smiley my sister was at it again, teasing Turbo about some bird stealing his chips.

I only caught on when I realized my husband was in on it too. They even started whistling when Turbo was looking away and saying things like, "Did you hear that bird?" A wide-eyed Turbo was looking around, eagerly trying to find the non-existent bird.

At a hilarious turning point, Turbo looked alarmed and took action to protect his plate of food. While still searching for the bird, Turbo slowly took his plate and began to hide it under the table. The whole table burst out laughing and I was lucky enough to catch this moment so I could stop the plate from spilling out on the floor - although, to be honest, he had a pretty tight grip.

Turbo was a little confused by the laughter. I think he took the food theft situation very seriously. Bless his cute little heart.

I did the only thing a mom could do. I made an attempt to save him.  I pulled out my cell phone and called the bird and relayed the message to Turbo that the bird was now bothering some poor little kid at a table across the room. He bought it.

The bird made an appearance at our home again last night.

Turbo was playing with a little flashlight and accidentally pulled the top part of it off, leaving one piece of the flashlight in each hand.

Me: "Uh oh. What happened?"

Turbo: "A bird did it. It's the bird's fault."

Oh boy. Get ready for some fantastic fibbing, people.