Telling the truth

As many of you know, my kids are VERY intense (a lot like me!) So, every night there is a ton of threats to kill each other (between the kids), screaming, name calling, throwing things and pushing people (...when there's love at home.) Last night was no different. I was doing some late night cleaning and ignoring all the ruckus until it just got way out of hand. I went into the family room to see who was bleeding and why. Ethan was holding his shoulder and rubbing his head all while blubbering and trying to tell me what had happened. Since I couldn't understand him, I asked the closest sibling - Justin. This is how it went.

J= "Well, Ethan was bothering me and making me really mad and so I pushed him into the door really hard."
M= "So you purposely hurt him? Does that make you feel better that you hurt his shoulder and head?"
J= "Hey, I meant to purposely push him into the door and hurt his back. I didn't know I was going to get his shoulder - the head was just lucky!"

OK, so is it just me or is it funny that he thinks it's OK that he hurt Ethan because he told me the truth? It is so hard for me to say "Thank you for telling me the truth that you meant to hurt your brother, however, you are still grounded forever because you took action on it."

I did what any frazzled mom would do, I shook my head, walked away, and told them to get in bed. Some nights, it's all about survival!