I Spilled My Coffee All Over the Break Room Sink - And Blamed It On My Coworker's Kid

So here’s the story. I work the night shift at this little corner store, and we’ve got a break room with a sink for washing up if you’re making coffee or something. Now, every other day there’s this kid who comes in with his parents to get groceries. He’s always running around like he owns the place and somehow manages to spill something on the floor each time. Today was no different. Yesterday, while I was prepping for my shift, this kid was here again, kicking up dust under the register and basically making a ruckus. So there I am, trying to stay calm because it’s not his fault he’s eight years old and full of energy. Anyway, once I got settled in, I made myself some coffee since it’s been an eternal struggle staying awake through these long nights. I was sipping quietly on my coffee when, out of nowhere, this kid comes bounding into the break room with a juice box dripping all over his hand. He starts whining about needing to wash up, and sure enough, spills some of that juice right next to the sink as he’s trying to reach for it. Now, mind you, there wasn’t even a stain left by the time I cleaned it up; just enough of an impression on the tile that someone might notice later if they looked closely. Fast forward a few hours later, when I was done with my shift and headed home. As I’m washing out my cup to go, I accidentally knocked over my half-empty coffee mug right into the sink. The hot liquid spilled everywhere, and as you can imagine, it left quite an impression - literally scorching marks on the surface of that poor ceramic basin. Now here’s where things got silly. By some cosmic coincidence, or maybe just bad luck, the kid’s mother walks in looking for him right when I’m cleaning up this mess. She spots the ruined sink and her face falls as she asks me what happened. Without missing a beat (and probably without thinking), I look at her with my best sympathetic face and say, “Oh no, did you see that little guy drop his juice earlier? Guess it must have been him.” I felt terrible about it right after saying it, my conscience hit me pretty hard, and I even thought about confessing then and there. But then again, maybe if my coworkers think the kid was the culprit, they won’t blame someone who’s already working a grueling night shift? At any rate, I’m just here to confess this one little misstep in my otherwise uneventful life. So yes, turns out it wasn’t so much about the kid as it was me being a bit of an idiot.