3 Year Old Schemes!

I have always known that little kids can be very smart but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I realized just how smart they can be.  I will admit now that my 3 year old out smarted me but now that he has fooled me once he won't be able to get away with it again for a while... not this way at least! :)
When it comes to meals, my boys know that there are certain expectations about what they are to eat and how much of it they need to eat.  Normally, breakfast and lunch portions are what I know they can eat in order to cut down on how much food is wasted.  This one afternoon, however, Chase was really dragging his feet in finishing his lunch.  He had been at the table for a good amount of time and his PB&J sandwich was still not gone.  I told him he had 5 minutes to finish his food and if he could not finish then he would lose his TV show privilege before nap time.  To my surprise a few minutes later it was gone.  End of story.  Fast forward to dinner the next night.  We had picked up a pizza on our way home from running errands.  Normally the child loves pizza but again, he was taking a very long time to eat.  He wanted some of Grandma's special pumpkin bread for dessert so I told him that when he finished five more bites of pizza he could have some.  I was busy trying to get a few things done around the house (dishes, laundry, normal picking up type of stuff) and before I knew it his pizza was gone.  He got his pumpkin bread and gobbled that down in no time.  A few minutes later I noticed Jacob at the table talking to Chase and I over heard Chase say "That's just pizza, brother."  I immediately go over to the table, look around for pizza and was confused about what Jacob was asking about.  After asking the boys about this Jacob points to our napkin holder in the center of our table... there is a little bit of pizza sauce on the corner that is closest to Chase's seat but nothing that would have raised a red flag when seen.

I bent down to get a better angle and this is what I saw....

Not only where there his pizza bites from dinner but there also was his PB&J sandwich from the day before!

My child had been so smart and sneaky that he was able to get all that food perfectly hidden under our napkin holder!!!  My first reaction was to laugh... it was really was quite comical but I was trying so hard not to laugh, knowing he would pick up on that and also think it was funny and o.k. to do.  This situation led into a conversation about telling the truth, telling a story and doing what is right even when Mommy & Daddy are not watching.  I now make sure to check not just the napkin holder but his pockets and under the ledge of the table... who knows where food is going to show up next! ;)