I have to brush my teeth!

For those of you who have had kids, I have one question for you. Have you ever sat down and actually listened to the words that are coming out of their mouths? I realized that I sometimes tune the kids out when I know what they are going to say. For instance, if I ask the kids where something is, I am almost guarenteed to get an "I don't know. . . so and so had it last." Or if I ask them if their homework is done I get the "*sigh* Yes mom, we did it earlier!". My personal favorite is when I ask them if their rooms are clean and their beds are made. I love the answer "But you never told me I had to do it!!!" Ummmm if they looked at our house rules, it is rule number 2! Generally speaking, these answers are written in stone. They have to be given when asked the appropriate questions. However, then Caroline was born. My brother Jason loves Caroline because she is so cheeky. Most of the time it is hard to understand what she is trying to say, but when you do, you end up rolling on the floor laughing because she is soooo funny. Here is the situation that prompted this entry:
Yesterday we were tidying the house to get ready for our babysitter to come over so that Otto and I could go to a ward activity. Caroline was supposed to be cleaning her room. She had informed us that she just had too many toys and so she couldn't do it by herself. Now Caroline has a soft spot in Otto's heart, and so he told her that he would help her clean her room. Caroline seemed to think that this would be an okay idea, until she realized that she didn't actually want to clean her room and now she had no excuse. So she disappeared. Otto started calling her name. Here is the conversation that followed:
OTTO: Caroline?
CAROLINE: *silence*
OTTO: Caroline?
CAROLINE: *silence*
OTTO: Caroline?????
CAROLINE: *sigh* Yes??
OTTO: Where are you?
CAROLINE: In the bathroom.
OTTO: You need to come in here and help me clean your room.
CAROLINE: But I need to brush my teeth.
OTTO: Ok

So I am listening to this conversation and I hear Caroline tell Otto that she is occupied because she is brushing her teeth! After I stop rolling on the floor laughing because Otto let her get away with that excuse, I confronted Otto about it. When I told him that I couldn't believe that he let her get away with the excuse that she was brushing her teeth he told me that he hadn't really understood what she had said.
I have decided that from now on, when I don't want to do something I am going to use Caroline's excuse. . . . so if I ever tell you that I am brushing my teeth, it really means that I am trying to get out of doing whatever it is that you are asking me to do!