Mistaken Identity

Let me just start out by saying “sorry” to my 5 year old daughter Elle.

My in-laws receive an organic vegetable basket every week from a local farm. It’s filled with different types of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, carrots and peppers. Since my in-laws are out of town for a few weeks, we kind of inherited the basket. After dinner last night I looked in the basket to see what looked good to eat. There were these beautiful red peppers that fit the bill, so I cleaned and sliced. They were crisp and sweet, the way a red pepper should be. My daughter asked for some so I gave her a piece of mine. After we finished the first pepper she wanted another, so I cleaned and cut another one unsuspecting of what it held. I gave it to Elle and she bit into it, she immediately spit it out and gave me a look that basically said “you deceived me, you are my father, the one that is supposed to care for and protect me at any cost”. By the look on her face I knew what had happened. An innocent looking red sweet pepper that appeared to be the same as the last one we ate, wasn’t. I said, “Oh Elle, I’m so sorry, is that a HOT PEPPER”? The delayed flow of tears and screams said it all. She was freaking out. I was feeling terrible as she stuffed ice cubes and bread into her mouth. She was on fire for about an hour but not as bad as the initial reaction.

It was time for bed so we went upstairs. As I was getting James’ PJ’s on him I noticed that Elle was MIA. I found her in the bathroom with her head in the sink drinking directly from the tap. I apologized again. She was feeling better, at least that was what she told me, however she was brushing her tongue with her toothbrush. She never does that.

I have a feeling that this will be something that she will remember for life. The wheels will turn everytime I offer her something. "Can I trust Daddy"?

Sorry Elle