Friday, October 22, 2010

Pinocchio Parenting-How often do you lie to your kids?

"Mommy is Santa REAL?".....
Oh no she didn't.....just ask me the Santa question!!! Urrrrghhhhh!
Yep, it lasted 7 years 22 days.  The LIES that is.  Today my innocent little baby girl skeptically questioned the validity of Santa and the MAGIC that encompasses him. 
Of course I diffused the question quickly and crossed my fingers that she would continue to believe for just      
ONE MORE YEAR!

Why didn't I tell her the truth, you ask?  I suppose out of selfishness!
You see, I've always been a big believer in satisfying my kids' imaginations.  Why burst their "bubble" any sooner than I have to?  And to be honest, seeing my kids' faces filled with "wonder" and "delight" will always be the one Christmas present I treasure for eternity.   

Sapphire's question gave me a full blown migraine!  I felt as if I had been hit in the back of the egg-noggin with a giant candy cane.
In fact, it really had me thinking, "How often do we lie to our kids and about what?"
Stop pretending like you don't know what I'm talking about.  Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!  {O.K., now I'm just acting childish}

We all lie. A lot!  To our friends, family, employers and especially to our kids.

So I guess I'll go first.  Here are the top five lies I've told my kids recently
(quite possibly in the last 24 hours)
     
1.  If you eat in your bed or in the living room, crumbs will get left behind and mice will come in our house and bite your feet.
2.  I just checked the TV guide and nope, no kid shows are on right now. 
3.  If you swear the police will arrest you.
4. Why doesn't that man have any hair?  Because every time he poops another hair falls out.
5.  Why is that horse giving the other horse a piggy back ride?  Actually, they were playing a game of leapfrog and the back horse hurt his leg last week and couldn't jump over the front horse.

  Alright, let's hear them.  What lies have you told recently?


2 comments:

Linda Pressman said...

Well, as my kids have gotten more and more curious, I've had to whitewash my past. I couldn't claim a virgin marriage because I was married before. Tell me how they can be so disappointed that their father wasn't my first when he wasn't my first marriage? If they only knew the whole truth...

And, on the subject of Santas, being Jewish I didn't want to break their hearts that there were actually so few Jews around. So one day when my daughter pointed to a Santa Claus in the neighborhood I asked her who he looked like and we finally agreed that he looked like a Russian Rabbi. Long beard, tunic, funny hat. To this day she says, "There's another Russian Rabbi, Mom!"

Anonymous said...

i believed until i was 9 years old. my mom couldn't believe I was serious, but i was lol... btw i love your signature looks great on 'our' name hehe