Body of evidence

I don't know about anyone else, but when I was little, I used to leave all sorts of evidence. You know, when I was expected to have done something. For example, when I got home from school, I was supposed to do my homework first. So I would get out all my books and spread them all over the table, get out my paper and pencil, and start my homework. After 10 minutes (or when it looked like I had done a significant portion of homework, say, half a page of math problems) I would promptly head over to the family room and switch on the television. Or, if I was feeling adventurous, I'd head to the basement and play some Nintendo.

If my parents came home, I could hear the garage doors opening, and I'd quickly put everything back exactly the way it was, down to the exact position of the remote control and run back to where my books were and it looked like I was studying. (Note to inventors: parents might be interested in whisper-silent garage doors) Alternatively, I could pretend like I was in the bathroom, and flush just as they stepped through the door. It was a flawless system. Well, so I thought. I didn't find out until recently that my parents always knew when I had been watching television because they could feel that it was warm. So much for outsmarting my parents.

To this day, I still have this habit of leaving evidence. If I've gone to the gym or gone running, I can't help but leave my running shoes out in a conspicuous place. I'll leave one turned on its side just to hammer home the point that they had been worn that day. If I've eaten an apple, to demonstrate that I've had a serving of fruit I might leave out a plate with the core on it, or I might make sure that the core is prominently displayed at the top of the trash can.

I'm not really sure why I have this need to leave such bits of evidence, but at least I know my kids will never be able to outsmart the master.