Honesty is important. It’s a deal breaker for me. It’s essential for me to teach my children the importance of honesty. However… and this is a huge, however. My only exception for full honesty… is when parenthood calls for a simple white lie. There are times it is necessary. Innocent, but necessary.
I know all moms have told white lies to their kids. And I want them to know that they are not alone. So I decided to confess a few of mine…
#1 I hide my Swedish fish.
I eat them when the kids are in bed. I learned quickly that if my kids see my stash, it’s mayhem. Begging and pleading for just one Swedish fish. Then I end up with an empty bag. So now I hide them. And when they ask if there’s any candy in the house, I say “not that I can recall”.
#2 I call Tofu “cheese”.
When my kids were young, they both went through a phase of intense dislike of every type of meat. It’s a texture thing, and pretty common. I tried my best to get them to eat chicken, turkey, hamburgers, anything. But they refused. Worried about them not getting enough protein, I finally resorted to alternating between scrambled eggs (which they did like), & “tofu cheese”. They were cheese fans and thought it was just another type of cheese. To this day, cubed tofu cheese is a yummy snack to them (I don’t get it, it’s tasteless! But I was happy to get some extra protein in them). Thankfully the meat-free stage was short-lived for both of them, but the tofu “cheese” helped me get through it.
#3 I fib about what time it is.
Before my kids knew how to tell time, I occasionally fibbed about what time it was. Kids never want to go to bed. Those nights when they absolutely refused to head to bed? Yep, I fibbed about it maybe being 7 pm, instead of 6 pm! Winter is a bonus because it is dark early, so they had no clue they were going to bed at 6 pm. Hey, don’t judge if you haven’t tried it. It’s GREAT!
#4 I continued to fib about the time.
Once my kids learned to tell time, I actually resorted to changing some of the clocks in our house, specifically the ones in their bedrooms. The only important tip is that you have to change the clock back before the morning or they will get up too early!
#5 I invented “the seatbelt police”.
My kids think “seatbelt police”. There was a stage when they refused to buckle into their car seats. Or worse, they tried to unbuckle when I was driving. So I told them there are “seatbelt police”, who watch for kids that aren’t buckled, and they’ll get a ticket. This isn’t really a lie because it IS a law. And as any parent knows, kids are happier to behave for anyone besides their own parent! I was so proud when I overheard my son tell his friend “make sure you buckle up or the seatbelt police will stop us”.
So sometimes I think it’s okay to fib. Sometimes.
Share with us: What white lies you have told your children?