For a long time it felt like I was constantly telling my kids, “Stop tattling!” Whether it was reporting on who was hitting a sibling, who ate chocolate chips without asking, or who was coloring when they should be doing homework, the tattling in my house had gotten out of hand. In fact, it got to the point where I would turn a deaf ear any time someone ran up to me and started ratting out their brother or sister. Ignoring any and all telling came back to haunt me one day, though, when my daughter ran inside for what I thought was another tattle session. I held up my hand and stated, “I don’t want to hear it! I’m tired of you tattling on your brother!” Imagine my horror when she proceeded to tell me through tears that her brother had fallen off the deck and cut his knee wide open. That’s when I realized our family had to come up with some way of differentiating between tattling and reporting.
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