by OnYx

Created on: April 28, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

All parents have lied to their children in some point in time. No matter if it is for safety reasons, learned tradition, to bribe, for fun, or simply just don't know. Let's face it, telling kids about Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny is a fun tradition for kids, but it's also a lie.

Here are a few things I was told as a child:
" 1) Stop popping your knuckles, it will cause arthritis."

2) "Don't sit so close to the television, or it will make you blind."
3) "Don't swallow watermelon seeds, or a giant watermelon will grow in your stomach.
4) "Don't play with frogs, you'll get warts."
5) "Don't swallow gum, or it will stick in your intestines for many years, until you poop a big gigantic bubble."
6) "If you don't go to sleep soon, the sandman will come and rub sand in your eyes."
7) "If you keep making that ugly face it may freeze like that forever."

These little things seem harmless, but later when the child realizes the truth it usually upsets him. I am no perfect parent myself, and of course I have told my children things that I should have thought about first, but at the time it seemed to be the quickest reply.

Here are a few things I have told my children:

1) "Air freshener runs away the boogeyman."
2) "I'm not getting older, I'm only 21."
3) "Tell me the truth, and you won't get into trouble."
4) "This will hurt me, more than it hurts you."
5) "The store is closed right now."
6) "The ice-cream truck ran out of ice-cream that is why it's playing music."
7) "That bump on your tongue is a lie bump."
8) "If you lie, your nose will grow like Pinocchio."

Every parent that I can think of has been guilty of an occasional fib. When a child is young, a little fib can be good for expanding their imagination. It's when children begin to understand the significance of consequences to those lies, we as parents need to begin to transform their imaginations into reality and emphasize the importance of truth in important situations.

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