Lies My Bad Mother and Father Told Me

Christmas (and a Christmas dress!) from last year

Here’s a couple lies that we told this week, all in the name of good parenting.

First, my lie: last Christmas I bought Sydney 2 dresses, one in size 3T and one in size 4T. She wasn’t with me when I shopped and they were on sale so I got both sizes to make sure one would fit. She wore the 3T last year so this year she already has a lovely 4T dress to wear. Except she wants nothing to do with it when I showed it to her recently.

So this Sunday I moved it around in her closet, then whipped it out proclaiming that it was a “Cousin Lily” dress. She put it right on, all smiles, thinking that it was a hand-me-down from her favorite cousin.

Second, Chad’s lie: Chad was washing dishes (my hero!) while Will finished his dinner. Chad told Will to eat 2 more bites. Will’s not the best eater,but Chad was persistent and stuck to his guns.

Will declared he ate 2 bites and asked to be excused.

Chad asked, “Are you sure?” He thought it didn’t look like Will had eaten 2 bites at all.

“Yes. May I be excused?”

“Yes, if you really ate two bites. But remember, God doesn’t like liars.”

The seconds ticked by. Will finally said, “I better eat one more bite, just in case.”

The moral of our stories? Lying got our kids to behave. Although now that I think about it, God probably doesn’t like liars. Thus, Chad didn’t lie when he told that to Will. Sigh. Guess that makes me the only bad, lying parent this week!