Bad Joe

Manny had a soccer game today...only 2 from the other team showed up so they split up Manny's team to play the game. The game was right smack in the middle of the day and pretty much ruined Julian's nap time. (game was 12-1:30) I decided later when we got home that the boys needed a nap and I could use one too. I laid down on my bed with Manny, fully expecting he would fall asleep. I woke up about 25 minutes later to him kissing me and telling me he loves me (he does this quite often so I thought nothing of it)....He runs back to the family room, where he had turned on TV and was watching noggin (good thing that the channel is programed to come on when the TV is turned on). I walk out and see a huge pile of candy wrappers on the counter and the scissors, which he used to get them open. The chair is pushed up to the counter...the evidence of how he got all the way up into the cabinet of where we keep the stash. I asked Manny what all the candy wrappers were doing on the counter and Manny told me "Bad Joe" did it. Now Bad Joe is some imaginary friend/ghost Manny has been talking about the past 2-3 weeks. Whenever anything goes wrong he tells me Bad Joe did it....I then proceeded to count the candy wrappers....1, 2, 3, 4......15, 16, 17, 18...18 candy wrappers later...I am trying my hardest not to laugh because I really did find this amusing. I then went over to him, still watching TV and acting like nothing was wrong to find the evidence on his face. I asked him why he had chocolate all around his mouth. He told me Bad Joe did it so he would get in trouble. I talked to him about what he did and explained why it was wrong, all the while stifling my laughs because I couldn't believe he went out to the kitchen and did all this...then came in to kiss me and wake me. He didn't even try to hide the wrappers in the garbage...that's a 4 year old for you. After a time out in his room he told me that he would never eat that many candies again because they are bad for him and that from now on he would only have one. We then turned to walk out of his room and he asked me for two candies....uuhhh hello, didn't you just tell me they were bad for you. Manny did learn his lesson on his own, the hard way, the best way. He got a stomach ache from the candy....and they were all sugar free...so it really gave him an upset stomach.