Saint Elizabeth

The other day, Emilie (daycare) called me at work to inform me that Katie had pushed Sam (a little boy at daycare) while they were going down the stairs. No one fell, and Emilie did not see this "assault". It was Sam's word against Katie's. Emilie asked Bethie if Katie had pushed Sam while on the stairs. Bethie said that Katie had. Katie was punished, and I was informed of the entire event in great detail.

That evening, I talked to both girls about what had happened. Katie swore up and down that she had not pushed Sam. Bethie, very calmly, said over and over again that Katie was lying and had, in fact, pushed Sam. Katie lost her cool. She shouted at Bethie, "Bethie! You couldn't see what happened because you were behind me!". Bethie conceded that she had not seen the push with her own eyes. I asked Bethie why she would say that Katie pushed Sam if she had no idea whether the push occurred or not. Bethie responded, "I know Katie pushed Sam because God told me!".

My first thought was "You are your father's daughter!". Dan does not cite God as a source of his knowledge, but he does use some pretty random-ass and sketchy obscure sources. Bethie had one-upped him!

I had to explain that to Bethie that despite her obvious (and mostly exclusive) direct link to God, she mustn't use God's whispers to her as evidence of infractions committed by others. In the future, I expect her to witness situations before she swears she knows what happened. Bethie was slightly put off by me and my dismissal of God's whispers in her ear. To get back at me, she started praying, "God, please make it snow. God, please make it snow". Why? Because Bethie knows that I am sick of shovelling the snow. I really don't want anymore snow to fall. Apparently, this link she has with God works two way: He tells Bethie about all the wrongs others commit, and she makes little requests of Him to exact revenge against a disbelieving mother.

What was Dan's reaction to this, you ask? He asked me if I thought Bethie would become the next Joan of Arc. I'm not kidding! Nor was he! I answered, "I hope not. She probably drove her mother crazy!".