Rick, I have an "onion Tale" from the other side.....I'm the bad guy!!! Well sorta'............

We had two sisters while fostering that we loved a lot and probably should have adopted, but that's another story. They were with us for 3 years and had their share of problems, none of which they brought upon themselves. Anyway, one day I walk into the alley behind the old barn style garage and find that someone has ripped out a huge chunk of Day Lilies. It's surprising that anything will grow in the small strip of earth alongside the alley, but these things are tough!!! I looked at the mess in the alley, knew immediately "who done it," and went and found the girls (ages 8 and 10 at the time).

ME: "Hey guys, what's with this?"
THEM: "What do you mean Dad?"
ME: "I mean, what's with ripping out the lilies?"
THEM: (insert here a lot of protesting, etc... as it weakens they are finally silent)
ME: "Finished? Let's try this again. What was the point of doing this?"
THEM: "Hem-Haw-Hem-Haw-Blabber-Blather-Babble............"
ME: Once more.....What was the point of tearing the lilies out by the roots?"
THEM: The older one pipes up and says, "We were hungry we thought they were onions and we could eat them!"
ME: .......uh-huh........Onions huh? So you're hungry right? Is that it?"
THEM: "Oh yeah Dad, we were just thinking we could eat them," they both agreed happily thinking I was satisfied with the answer.
ME: Well guys I wish I had known....don't want you hungry....Let's go to the kitchen!"

You know of course what happened next........Neither of them would have eaten a raw onion on a bet so I peeled and sectioned one and put it on the table in front of them with a big smile on my face saying, "There you go guys!!! Finish it all and then you can go back out and play.......but you're not leaving the table til it's gone."

Two hours later we discussed tearing up plants and other property. It didn't cure the problem entirely, but it was another step along the way. Neither though developed an "onion problem" and both loved to tell the story to new foster kids saying, "Don't lie to Dad whatever you do!"

Spaw