Who is responsible?

re·spon·si·bil·i·ty (rĭ-spŏn'sə-bĭl'ĭ-tē)
n., pl. -ties.
1. The state, quality, or fact of being responsible.
2. Something for which one is responsible

Well *thankyou* answers.com for such an enlightening and complete definition!

Lets look up another word, so we can understand the first word we looked up.

re·spon·si·ble (rĭ-spŏn'sə-bəl)
adj.
There are actually 8 definitions, ,however,in the interest of relevance to my blog, I will only list 3:
1.Able to make moral or rational decisions on one's own and therefore answerable for one's behavior.
2.Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable.
3.Based on or characterized by good judgment or sound thinking


I am responsible.
I am entrusted with the care of 3 beautiful boys, and it is my duty to raise them to be responsible, and well rounded young men.

The word responsibility has been thrown around a lot here lately.
My middle son has assured me that he is able to have a real glass, and not just a sippy cup for his juice.

"Mum, I want juice in that glass, I am responsible"

Believe me, hearing that word escape the lips of a 3 yr old is amusing at best, but downright hilarious coming out of MY 3 yr old. This is the boy that doesn't have a responsible bone in his body. The boy who breaks his toys on contact, and can turn a tidy room into a certified disaster area worthy of being condemned in 8 seconds. He does not exhibit good judgement, in fact he exhibits no judgement at all - he just charges in and does everything without thinking at all. He denies all wrongdoing, even when caught red-handed, and is hell bent at times to do the complete opposite of anything you ask him to do. He is 3, so this is par for the course.

Still, how is he to learn responsibility, if I don't at least give him the opportunity to demonstrate it.
There is a certain amount of trust needed on my part, and I reluctantly gave him the glass.

responsible means something different to Matthew. To him, he is responsible if he doesn't break the glass and/or throw it against the wall. Unfortunately, however, dumping the contents out onto his plate of french fries doesn't enter his mind as being irresponsible.
I sigh.
I clean up the soggy fries, and the juice that is now dripping off the plate, and forming a puddle on the floor.
I contain my anger, because he is only 3, and even though he said "It was an accident" and I know it was deliberate, I also know that he is compelled to pour liquids from one container to another, so I should have seen it coming.
I DID see it coming, but I keep hoping that *one day* he will just drink the juice, eat the french fries without gagging and spitting them out on the plate, and maybe even try eating something that isn't doused in ketchup.

He may not be the most responsible child, but he is a master manipulator, even at the tender age of 3. Last night he managed to wheedle yet another cup of chocolate milk out of daddy before bedtime. When his deception was 'discovered' daddy called him a little stinker, and Matthew looked up in all seriousness and said "No, I'm not stinker, I'm MATTHEW".
Boy did that make me laugh. I even repeated it laughing to myself whereupon Duncan standing right next to me looked at me quizzically and said "No, you're not Matthew, you're MUMMY".
This only served to make me howl louder, at these treasures, who are so literally minded that they simply thought I'd gone off my rocker, not knowing who I am.
I know who I am.
But it's good to be reminded once in a while.

Just for fun, I have to throw in a picture of my "responsible" stinker - He was on the floor begging daddy to squeeze his head.
He likes the pressure. I'm proud to be his mother! ;)