My almost 3 year old lied to me today. 
She doesn't realize what she did of course, but that makes it that much harder to 'deal with' if you will. Here is what happened, please tell me what on earth to do next time!!!
Situation 1:
I went to the bathroom and dd was out in the living room. It got very quiet and I called out to her, asking what she was doing. She said "I don't know" I said, "yes you do, what are you doing?" trying all the while to keep the panic out of my voice! Again, "I don't know". I go out to the living room and she's unraveling my crochet!!!! She knows not to touch it, ect. I know she doesn't have the self control, and that I should put it up, ect. I just don't know how she knew to lie about what she was doing!!! I told her firmly (a little too firmly, in retrospect) not to touch my crochet, and that when I ask her what she is doing, she needs to just tell me.
Situation 2:
I am feeding the baby I sit for and she goes to the potty. I notice she is taking a long time and call out to her if she needs help. "No!" Silence. I wait a minute and ask what she is doing. "I don't know!" RED FLAG!! So I go in there and she had dumped the whole bottle of (baby) perfume on the bathroom floor. I reminded her about going through the bathroom cabinets (she can get to the highest one, nothing is safe from her, even with baby locks!!) and that she was totally free to use the stuff, just ask for help. We had a talk about being 'big', asking for help, and doing things 'all by myself'.
SHe is very into all by myself lately, and I love it. I want to encourage her to do things on her own. I just simply can not leave her unattended for a minute! Is that normal for an almost 3 year old??? I mean, she can't even go potty on her own without getting into stuff! Sometimes I get so frustrated, just wanting her to be a little LESS. Less creative, energetic, facetious (sp???). I mean, why can't a 3 year old just BE for 2 minutes!!! I told her I didn't want to have to take her everywhere I went in the house, but that I needed her to be safe. The thing is, nothing is safe from her. No babyproofing items have worked on her, even those insane magnet cabinet locks that *I* can't undo half the time. It's not repeat things, every time it's something new that I can't possibly plan for or anticipate. So do I make her sit in the bathroom with me? Do I make her come to the laundry room when I switch the laundry? Do I never let her go potty alone? HELP!!!
Also, how do I handle the 'lie'? She is not old enough to know what a lie is, or how to manipulate, which makes this that much more difficult. She has never been punished or whatever, we try to be gentle in every interaction, and talk things through. I hate that she hides things from me!!
I want to make her feel like she can tell me anything, but I don't want her to sneak off to do things she knows not to do either. 
She doesn't realize what she did of course, but that makes it that much harder to 'deal with' if you will. Here is what happened, please tell me what on earth to do next time!!!Situation 1:
I went to the bathroom and dd was out in the living room. It got very quiet and I called out to her, asking what she was doing. She said "I don't know" I said, "yes you do, what are you doing?" trying all the while to keep the panic out of my voice! Again, "I don't know". I go out to the living room and she's unraveling my crochet!!!! She knows not to touch it, ect. I know she doesn't have the self control, and that I should put it up, ect. I just don't know how she knew to lie about what she was doing!!! I told her firmly (a little too firmly, in retrospect) not to touch my crochet, and that when I ask her what she is doing, she needs to just tell me.
Situation 2:
I am feeding the baby I sit for and she goes to the potty. I notice she is taking a long time and call out to her if she needs help. "No!" Silence. I wait a minute and ask what she is doing. "I don't know!" RED FLAG!! So I go in there and she had dumped the whole bottle of (baby) perfume on the bathroom floor. I reminded her about going through the bathroom cabinets (she can get to the highest one, nothing is safe from her, even with baby locks!!) and that she was totally free to use the stuff, just ask for help. We had a talk about being 'big', asking for help, and doing things 'all by myself'.
SHe is very into all by myself lately, and I love it. I want to encourage her to do things on her own. I just simply can not leave her unattended for a minute! Is that normal for an almost 3 year old??? I mean, she can't even go potty on her own without getting into stuff! Sometimes I get so frustrated, just wanting her to be a little LESS. Less creative, energetic, facetious (sp???). I mean, why can't a 3 year old just BE for 2 minutes!!! I told her I didn't want to have to take her everywhere I went in the house, but that I needed her to be safe. The thing is, nothing is safe from her. No babyproofing items have worked on her, even those insane magnet cabinet locks that *I* can't undo half the time. It's not repeat things, every time it's something new that I can't possibly plan for or anticipate. So do I make her sit in the bathroom with me? Do I make her come to the laundry room when I switch the laundry? Do I never let her go potty alone? HELP!!!
Also, how do I handle the 'lie'? She is not old enough to know what a lie is, or how to manipulate, which makes this that much more difficult. She has never been punished or whatever, we try to be gentle in every interaction, and talk things through. I hate that she hides things from me!!
I want to make her feel like she can tell me anything, but I don't want her to sneak off to do things she knows not to do either. 
) and fantasy don't exist for kids this age.
