Grandma Maureen had a special vase that she kept on a table in the hallway that lead from the living room to the bedroom. It was her mother’s. She loved that vase. it reminded her of her mother. Every few days she put fresh flowers in the vase.

Arthur J and Bobby were pushing each other as they went down the hall. They bumped into the table with the vase on it. Before either one of them could catch the vase, it fell to the floor and broke in too many pieces to ever be glued back together again.

For a minute Arthur J and Bobby just stared at the broken vase on the floor. They couldn’t believe what they had done. Then they looked at each other and Bobby said, ” What do we do? Grandma loves this vase. We can’t buy her a new one, it came from her mother. She is going to be so mad at us!”

Arthur J answered,”I know, we can say the dog did it. He ran by the table, very fast and his tail was wagging so fast it knocked the vase over.”

Bobby thought for a moment. He wasn’t so sure that lying about it was such a good idea. Grandma could always tell when they were lying. Besides, he liked the dog and didn’t want to get him in trouble.

Just then, grandma came down the hall and saw the vase broken on the floor. ” Oh, no,” she said, ” Not my mother’s vase!”

Before Bobby could say anything. Arthur J said, “The dog did it, grandma. He broke your vase.”

Grandma Maureen looked at Arthur J and said,”It is bad enough that you broke my vase, but now you are not telling me the truth about how it got broken. The dog isn’t even here. He is outside, where he has been for the past hour.”

Then grandma said, “Let’s go in the living room and sit down and talk about this.” When they sat down, grandma said,”Accidents happen, but blaming others, especially a pet that cannot defend himself is wrong.  Blaming the dog for my vase is telling a lie and no good comes of lying. At first, you may think it is an easy way to avoid being punished for doing something, but a lie often makes things harder for us as we keep telling it. Please tell me what really happened to my vase.

So that is what they did. Arthur J and Bobby told Grandma Maureen what happened. They said that were sorry and asked what they could do to make up for breaking the vase. Then Arthur J apologized for lying to his grandma and promised not to do it again.

Grandma hugged them both and reminded them it is always better to tell the truth. She told then they could make up for breaking the vase by helping her around the house for the rest of the day. Arthur J and Bobby were all to happy to help. They really felt bad about breaking her favorite vase.

Then Arthur J got up and started for the back door. Grandma Maureen called after him, asking where he was going.

Arthur J answered,”I’m going to apologize to the dog for blaming him.”

Grandma smiled and said,”Do you think he will understand you?”Arthur J answered,” No , but I’ll feel better for saying I’m sorry.”