The Secrets We Keep

Last night, a dear friend wouldn't share her husband's most embarrassing moment with us (her girlfriends) and her loyalty reminded me that a little discretion can go a long way. I believe secrets have their place and can make marriage and life a lot smoother.

Last Saturday, my dad took all of his employees (and Chuck and me) to a minor league hockey game and my mom watched Ben while we were out. When we got home, she said, "Gary was up on the counter licking the butter so I shooed him off."

Now, Gary does naughty things like this regularly, and this was not his first offense with the butter. But I never ever tell Chuck that Gary licks the butter, because Chuck would freak out and hate the cat.

So, I playfully scolded my mom telling her, "Shh, we don't admit that stuff in front of Chuck."

Then Chuck decided to confess to a secret he'd been keeping. While I was gone earlier that day, Ben lifted the lid to the toilet and was practically swimming in the water. He was halfway in the bowl squealing and splashing with delight. As Chuck showed me the motion, I asked, "So, he was basically practicing his freestyle in the toilet?"

Chuck's reply, "Yeah, but at least his face wasn't wet."

Even though these secrets are amusing, I kind of wish they were still secrets. Sometimes when I'm about to kiss Ben's cute little face, I think about his head in the toilet. I know that I regularly scrub both Ben's head and the toilet, but it still grosses me out.

And Chuck keeps asking me, "Did Gary lick this butter?" He can keep asking, but I never tell.