I am a lying liar. Little One is Galileo.

Little One is kind of a budding scientist.  Really, as all two year olds are.  She has a chronic and severe case of curiosity.  A while ago, this curiosity was manifesting as a focused preoccupation with electrical outlets.  She was really, really interested in them.  Many a time, Peanuts, I caught Her hovering around one looking all studious.  Many a time I caught Her in the midst of attempting to plug/unplug some kind of cord.  When I went to plug in the vacuum She "helped" by walking over and expertly prying off the safety cover for me.
Ok then.  Greeeaaaat.
One day as I was brushing Her hair on the bathroom counter, She reached for the wall outlet and mentioned something about how the little holes were "just right" for Her little fingers.  She reached.
An image zinged through my brain; my kid sister, about five years old, howling and wailing with blue fingers.  Blue.
"DON'T put your fingers in there!!!!" I cried as She was about to touch it.
She drew Her hand back, just a little, and asked, "Why?"  She looked at me so intently, guys.  Like She was ready to weigh my answer and determine whether it was really good enough to nix how completely awesome it would be to try sticking Her fingers in this magical wall fixture. Like She seriously doubted it could. 
And so, without even thinking it through or really creating it in my mind, almost as if someone else was speaking through me Peanuts, I did it.  I lied.
Not a little white lie, a BIG one.  A dumb one.  And really... kind of a mean one.
"Because, there...is a monster."
Her eyes bugged out. Her hand retracted a bit further.
"Yes.  Yes there are monsters in there, and if you put your finger in there (I'm going to hell for this) they will BITE your fingers (as if that wasn't bad enough) OFF." 
The hand fell to Her lap.  I stood there in a mildly exhilarated panic, like someone who had just robbed a bank- there was No Going Back now.  
"Mommy!  Why?  Why there some monsters living in ours house like that?!" 
"Uh, well.  Well.  Well that's where they live, in the walls like that.  But we don't have to be scared, because they never, never come out."
"They don't?"
"No.  No they never come out, but (seriously I could not stop I am evil) they sit in there, and if people put their fingers in....BITE!" 
She jumped.  She eyed the wall socket- a moment ago so exciting and friendly- with extreme suspicion.  She warned all Her friends.
She never, I mean NEVER let Her fingers go near one again.

This effectiveness gave me a little nugget of justification for the first Real, Big lie I ever told my daughter.  It was for Her safety! For (oh no now I'm one of Those) Her Own Good.  I still don't know what came over me.  And I did wonder what would happen one day, when She learned from someone the Truth and that She'd been taken. By Her own Mother.
But.

When we got to this house and our belongings did not, we had no outlet covers to childproof with.  But since the Lie was so effective, and we have buckets of covers coming on the truck tomorrow, we just let it be for now. (I am racking up the good parenting points in this post, eh?) Little One has been sleeping on the floor and (ding! ding!, a few more points) Her pillow and blankets happen to be in a spot right by the wall, right under a bare, naked outlet.

But She didn't go near it.  In fact, the first night She spontaneously reassured me that She was "not goin' to touch that monster home.  We have to be careful, mommy, cause that monster home does not have some of those tight doors on, and they could come out if we touch fingers in there, so I'm not goin' to go in that monster home, Don' Worry."  
And I didn't.

But then today. When I put Her down for Her nap. As I was tucking Her in She got a thoughtful look on Her face and said, "Mommy, can I tell you sompin? I been thinkin' bout that monster home over there."
She nodded at it.
"Ok, tell me."
"Well... I think that's not a monster in there."
"Oh... you do? Why is that?"
"Mommy don' worry mommy!  I not been touchin' that monster home, I just been lookin' closewy. I been lookin' in there, and mommy I think there's NOT a monster in there.  Because I'm lookin' and lookin', and I think...I think thas just.... some fuzz."
"Fuzz?"
"Oh yeah mommy! Look! Jus' look, take a peek in there."
She pointed to the outlet holes. Sure enough, if you look closely Peanuts, there are little tiny balls of dust. Sitting just inside, just where a monster- if there were one- would be lurking. She continued Her scientific assessment of the situation.
"And see mommy, this fuzz. Not have any neck on it. Or not have a body, or arms, OR legs! So," She sat back on Her heels and summed it all up decisively, "So mommy, I think that really this is NOT some monsters in there." 

What could I do.  I told Her that She had made some very good observations, and appeared to be right about monsters.  But, I told Her, I did know- for sure- that She really could get hurt if She put Her fingers in the outlet. Just the same.
She cozied into bed to take Her nap, assuring me that She was not going to touch the outlet.  But making sure to repeat that She was not going to touch it, but not because of monsters.  Because there weren't any.

And so my daughter, at two years old, has discovered the core nature of science.  Of being a scientist.  Which is that science and curiosity and the quest for information very often get you into trouble. It can place you in harms way.  It can stir up the authorities and cause them to do crazy things to stop you.  It also can, eventually, bring you Truth. 

And I have learned (and will re-learn and re-learn) the core nature of children. Which is that:
They are always smarter than you think they are.  And very often, smarter than you.