As I was paying the bills yesterday, I noticed that my cable bill was seriously out of whack. At first, I thought maybe I had forgot to pay last month, but upon further inspection, realized my 7 year-old son had charged nearly $100 of pay-per-view wrestling. When I called him out on it, he was immediately embarrassed and volunteered to pay for it out of his personal money. He probably knew I would ask him anyway, but it was nice to see him fess up and take responsibility. He grabbed a $100 bill that he found in a parking lot after a football game and brought it to my office. I could see the tears welling up, so gave him a hug and asked “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” As the tears now started to roll, he admitted that was the case.

In the end, the experience taught us both a couple of lessons. He learned the true cost of pay-per-view and I am sure he won’t be ordering any more WWE specials again anytime soon. His WWE marathon had cost him five months worth of allowance. He also realized that it doesn’t pay to be deceitful. Dad knows more than he thought.

As for me, I was reminded that i have to be diligent in my efforts to keep up with my kids’ viewing contnent. But, most importantly, I realized that Max will tell the truth when confronted, which for now gives me a great opportunity to teach lessons.