Let her stay there!

After a morning saturated with events that labeled the entire day "one of those" I retreated to my bedroom while Tej & Ari cleaned (so I thought) the kitchen. The area in the kitchen where they had been busy was in chaos. They had been counseled to play with their creations as long as they wanted but once they were finished they would need to clean it up. They were finished; it was time to clean. I exited the scene to let them figure out how to manage the task while I regained my sense of well-being (I can't even begin to go into details).

Some time later Tej arrived in my doorway. She was obviously a bit miffed about something. I questioned her. She replied with something like, "I cleaned up the entire mess all by myself. Ari didn't help at all." Hm. I offered my sympathy for the way that had worked out for her and then a praise for her completing the job.  A few especially quiet moments went by as she reflected. I knew those moments were especially quiet because while Mateja was rethinking her mopping skills, I was listening for little-miss-I-got-out-of-helping-my-big-sister-again. She's not the quietest child, unless... well... you know.  Finally, I asked the question: Where's your sister?  And her response: "OK. Well, she didn't want me to tell you, but... (a deliberate pause) she's stuck on top of the refrigerator!"

I let her stay up there.

(she figured out how to get down shortly after Mateja ratted her out)