Tattle Tongues

My tongue has been silent too long on here!  Where does the time go?

Notice that in my first sentence, I said "on here".  My tongue isn't ever silent for long!  A conversation with my 4-year old got me thinking about my tongue.  We always hear about gossiping.  There are blogs, devotionals, scriptures, songs, etc... written on this topic.  But our conversation wasn't about gossip.  I mean, really, what does a four year old gossip about?

Instead our conversation started like this...
J: Mommy, you know what _______ said to me at (the babysitter) today?
Me:  No, buddy.  What?
J:  She called me stupid!
Me:  Oh no...I'm sorry!  That's not very nice, huh?
J:  Nope.
Me:  What did (the babysitter) say?
J:  She made her sit in time out.
Me:  Oh, well do you ever have to sit in time out?
J: Nope!  I'm always good.  (HA!)
Me: Does Miss Kennedy ever have to sit in time out?
J: Nope.  She'd just get up. (HA! again!  He's smart!)

                  *names left blank to protect the "innocent" :)

Now I am sure my kid has to sit in time out just like all the others, but what I found funny is that he wanted to make sure I knew why the other kids were in trouble!  When we ask about his day, his response is ALWAYS "I played".  Real informative.  But if I want to get dirt on some other kid, I know who to ask!

It got me thinking about when does "tattling" start?  Jackson's been at it for awhile.  His friends, me (biting my nails...sheesh), his sister (his favorite I think), daddy, and anyone else he sees doing something he thinks is naughty.  But you know, I think Kennedy does it and she doesn't even talk!  If Jackson tries to get something she has, she yells at him and yells at me to look! 

By the time I get them in third grade, they are pro's at this thing called tattling.  They will rat out their best friend or their archenemy for accidentally stepping on their toe to cheating off their paper.  One of my teacher friends conied the phrase "ask tattling".  This is when students say "Are we supposed to get a drink during the test?" when they are no where near the water fountain but another kid happens to be there.  Talk about throwing somebody under the bus!

And man!  Can we stick it to each other as adults.  Tattles can take you a long way if you don't get caught.  You may look angelic, but you may also lose a lot of friends along the way.  Ever heard "the squeaky wheel always gets the grease"?  If we tattle enough, someone is going to do something just to get us to shut up!

Sadly, I don't know the cure for the "tattling tongue" except holding each other accountable and soul searching prayer.  If you aren't sure whether you are a tattler or not, ask yourself "Am I just trying to get this person in trouble?"  "Could that action cause bodily harm?"  "Are they breaking a real law/rule?"  "Does my opinion just clash with what is happening?"  "Am I trying to get ahead by broadcasting someone's mistake?"

No show of hands necessary.  I know.  It's a gut-check.

Check yourself and I'll work harder too.  Somewhere along the line, we CAN break the chain.  'Cause who likes a tattler?