"Mommy, I'm going to hypnotise you!" Mitchell said to his mother excitedly, as if he'd just learned a new secret teqniue.

"OK", Jane told my nephew, "Let's see if you can."

So Mitchell dangled his makeshift pendulum on a string in front of her and told her to count backwards from ten.

She then pretended to pass out and lay motionless in her bed. Mitchell curiously looked at her wondering how he could have been so successful on his first attempt ever on her.

He cautiously krept up to her, slowly, ever so slowly, one small half-step at a time.

"Gotcha" flashed Jane at him!"

He jumped back and let out small gasp then a giggle.

They both sat and laughed for a few seconds. But then Mitchell's countenance darkened, and his face looked suspicious and accusingly at her.


"So, you were just pretending?"
"Yes, Mitchell, I was just pretending."

Still staring at her he asked, "Do you pretend with me all the time?"

Jane, noticing that he was trying to get at something, replied cautiously, "Yes, Mitchell, we pretend with you a lot."

The silence in the room hung in the air like a chill on a cloudy day in London.

"And other grownups, do they pretend around kids alot? Pretend to find our jokes funny? Pretend to be surprised?" By now he sounded more than a bit annoyed.

"Yes, Mitchell, grownups do that a lot."

"Then you lie everyday." Mitchell concluded darkly.





Well, he has a point.






from ten edit
[Edited 8/5/07 10:14am]
[Edited 9/9/07 21:13pm]

I love playing pretend. We all do all the time to some extent.

I don't think it's "lying", though. I think that's another category.

CarrieMpls said:

You're still mad at me for my "bro's before ho's" revelation aren't you?

Imago said:

Who was holding who's purse all night again?

CarrieMpls said:

I was holding that purse cause you and sos had to go and conquer latino mangina on the dancefloor!

Imago said:

You know, I don't know what that means, but I really don't think I want to.

CarrieMpls said:

I really dislike you and all you ideas




I pretend I pretend

Mach said:

Conceptually, this is one of my best threads ever.

I love Dan. He's like a big kid.

Fantastic thread!

...
[Edited 9/9/07 21:23pm]

I don't lie to my kids because I hated it when adults lied to me as a kid.

What do you say, Org?

Should we tell Dan the truth?

fhqwhgads said:

Conceptually, it's my best, don't you think?

Lothan said:

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but in general my sister and I have employed a "lie as little as possible" policy with the kids. The major exceptions are Santa Clause, and omitting alot of detail around sex and "conception".

With religion she has been extremely straight forward with them. They know that I am Buddhist and that when I used to take them to the Buddhist Temple with me (they no longer live near me), it was so I could go practice a religion that was against their grandparents beliefs (Christianity), and that their father didn't believe any of the religions to be true. When they mention Jesus, or have questions about them, we always tell them that it is a matter of faith and not to believe what their friends tell them. Also, we tell them that what they believe will come to them in time.


But in general, it is exceedingly difficult not to lie to kids. I have no clue why. I have to try as hard as I can to be honest without revealing the entire ugliness of the Universe to them.,

Santa Claus? Toothe Fairy? Sometimes there's a relationship with kids that develops into a tradition that's an understanding of the concept of dishonesty...carried on for generations.....
[Edited 9/9/07 21:41pm]

As a general rule, I don't lie to kids. I give them more credit than that.

I save the lying to get women to sleep with me.

xplnyrslf said:

The Santa Clause myth intrigues me as I know so little about it. I mean, I know the general outline of it's origins, but feel alot of the the intention behind it was to force kids to behave.

Kind of like circumcision was once believed to curb masturbation (a sin in America at one time).

So much of tradition just seems perverse.

I wonder how Foot binding in China came about

Mars23 said:

I've seen your photos. I doubt you have to do much lying.

Imago said:

Sure, it's right 'up' there with your best.

You know, I was talking to Mon about this very thing two days ago. She said she'd told Nong Golf that when he went with his mum (really back to her parents' house in Latburi) that they would meet up with Mon and I at the shopping centre. I said this was wrong. He'd cried about leaving, but would get over this as soon as he got back home. The lie, however, was unfair I think.

xplnyrslf said:

Nope, I never lied about that to them either.

fhqwhgads said:

Well it beats the lies I told my Nephews I guess.

I used to tell them that if they wandered to far, these big black wolves that escaped from the zoo might get 'em.

Also, if they misbehaved, I'd take them to a restaurant down the street that served "Cat Poo Soup"


spelling edit
[Edited 9/9/07 21:47pm]

fhqwhgads said:

yeah that kind of lie leads to distrust

my mother-in-law makes up things to appease max, like when we leave him overnight, she will say "mummy will come back a bit later, she needs to buy some bread" and then we don't come back until the next day. Just the other day she said max doesn't trust her any more, and I am not even surprised.

Imago said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...anta_Claus

This explains Santa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...rcumcision

circs...


foot binding:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ot_binding
[Edited 9/9/07 21:51pm]

Imago said:

I say mean things like that too, but they know I am just being mean. Like my kids talk about poo all the time, so I say "do you love poo? is that why you talk about it all the time?" they scream "NOOOOO!" and I say "I could arrange it for you so when you wake up there will be a nice poo under your pillow!" and they scream and run around the room.

I miss Jerseykrs.



He'd be all up on this thread about how he beats his kids so he doesn't have to lie to them.

Imago said:

Being honest with kids about life is one thing and I think it is important.

Intentionally fucking with their mind for your own entertainment? Hilarious.

Mars23 said:

I would even say, ESSENTIAL

Mars23 said:

I used to threaten to take them to watch the "Barbie Dream house Musical" (no such movie exists) if they didn't behave on our movie outings. And that I'd make sure I took pictures of the even with my cell phone and send it to all their friends in school

But then I quit cause I didn't want to reinforce gender stereotypes.

ZombieKitten said:

To not do so, NEGLIGENT.

fhqwhgads said: