reality check

I am noticing a tendency in Henry lately and I'm not sure what to call it. Embellishment? Backing up ones ideas with fabricated facts? He wants to be right and have the right answers and believes he does know what he's talking about even when he doesn't. He has always argued a point but usually would acquiesce when we had more information and move on to the dozen whys. Lately though he comes up with an idea or explanation and will do whatever it takes to convince me of it. I don't want to call it lying exactly because I think he really believes he is right and is just making up the rationale. Besides, I don't think it really needs that kind of label/definition. I find it rather amusing really at this age. We'll see how it goes as time passes. I remember doing the exact same thing as a kid when I was sure I knew something and felt like I had to prove it.

I guess it did start months ago when he would tell me he had seen something on tv at my mom's when I wasn't there or would tell Jason or me some insane fact that he had learned with the other one of us. Actually, I think I wrote about one such instance many months ago but my tags aren't good enough that I have a clue how to find it now.

Last week I was picking some things up at his school and he was running around with a couple fo girls who were around 4/5 and 7. In the car as we were leaving I asked if he knew either of their names. he said he didn't but one was a boy and one was a girl. I contradicted him but he stuck to it and after a little back and forth said, "no he is a boy. I asked him if he was a boy and he said yes." Hmmm. I debated that so he replied, "I asked him and he went up to his dad (who was there also) and said am I a boy or a girl and his day said you are a boy." Hmmm again. Yeah, right. He was looking for authority for his argument but didn't understand how illogical it was. I argued a bit but quickly dropped it.

Tonight I was rubbing his back and we got into a conversation about bones and muscles. He stated that bones and muscles are the same thing, bone-muscles, really. Of course I gently tried to explain otherwise to which he replied, "the last time i was at gigi and bop's house, not the time with the decorations but the time before that, when only bop was there and gigi was gone, i asked bop to type on the computer "are bones and muscles the same thing" and he typed that and we looked at pictures of bone-muscles. they are the same thing." I said, "hmmmm." He paused a few seconds and then said, "okay?" To which I replied, "hmmmm."