Abracadabra

I don't know why I did it, other than sometimes it can be amusing to lie to your kids. Really, I didn't mean anything by it, but once I started it, there was no easy out. Until tonight. See, a few months ago, while shopping at Trader Joe's, Big Dog asked for a bag of Babybel cheese. I agreed. It was something different for the lunch box and as a child I was a sucker for the pretty wax wrapped cheeses too. No big deal. Pretty quickly these cheeses became a standard in our grocery basket. Nothing was wrong with any of this. Not yet. And then weekend as we snacked on these adorable cheeses, I pretended to rub one on Mr. Dog's head. And like magic I produced the second cheese I'd tucked into my sleeve. I proclaimed Mr. Dog's head to have magical powers of cheese reproduction. Why I did this, I really have no idea. All I can say is it sounded like a good idea at the time. And the kids were in awe. From that day forth, Babybel was referred to as "the magic cheese" and every time we were running low, Big Dog would demand that Mr. Dog rub one on his head to make more. I'd stand silently by, doing my best to stifle my body-shaking chuckles.

Until tonight. Today, we did our weekly Trader Joe's run, and as usual, Big Dog asked for "the magic cheese" to be included in our shopping. At dinner Mr. Dog brought some cheese to the table and performed his usual trick. After the cheese was devoured, and Mr. Dog left the table, Big Dog decides to inspect the "magic".

"I think I know what happens with the cheese," he says.

"Oh, the magic?" I ask.

"No, I think he starts with two pieces but one is put someplace. The he rubs the cheese on his head and shows us both of them"

"Oh, so it's not magic?" I ask.

"No. I think it's a trick," says my little detective.

When Mr. Dog returned to the table, Big Dog called him on the deception. And while he didn't confess, he did have to admit his son did a pretty good job of working it out.

Then Little Dog stepped in. "If you had two, you could rub them on your head and one would go into," dramatic pause, "your brain!" said in a spooky voice with jazz hands for added emphasis. Now that would be a trick!