“If you eat your carrots, you can see in the dark”
As a kid, this is how I was fooled into digesting extra nutrition, while simultaneously gaining the false hope of superpowers. Sadly, that night I realised that there was no truth in my parent’s words. Either that, or they were the wrong type of carrot.
For children, concepts regarding nutrition and economics are sometimes too hard to stomach. The idea of being able to see in the dark is far more appealing.
Not so ‘white’ lies
A thread on Reddit posed the question to the public: ‘How did your parents scare you as a child?’ We give you the 10 best (or perhaps worst):
1. “My parents told me that if I picked my nose, I might detach one of the cords that held my eye in place, and my eyeball would fall out of my head – You can imagine my panic every time I got a cold and my mom instructed me to blow my nose.” From ‘h3rnam3isclair3’
2. “My grandma used to tell me that if I got water up my nose in the bath or shower that I would get “brainwashed” and forget all my memory. Still have an irrational fear of water up my nose.” From ‘ohanti’
3. “If I swallowed watermelon seeds that a watermelon would GROW INSIDE ME. Seriously, how scary is that?” From ‘davidburns’
4. “When I was 4, my mum told me if I tried turning on a gas stove and heard a click then the stove would explode and kill everyone. I didn’t get over this fear until last year. Im 24.” From ‘yobigboss’
5. “As a little girl my parents and grandparents used to say that if I didn’t eat my sandwich crusts I would grow hair on my chest like my pop. I ate every single crust.” From ‘danielle3193’
6. “My mom said that if I didn’t sleep by 10PM, God would abduct me and carry me to the moon. I believed her for longer than I care to admit.” From ‘vSamster’
7. “My parents told me that if I touched my wee wee that everyone in the world would have to touch it too, just to be fair. My mom was weird.” From ‘applepasta’
8. “If I swallowed my gum I would fart bubbles. I did it by accident once and had a full-scale meltdown at Walmart.” From ‘DancingWithDaleks
9. “My parents told me about Santa and how he’ll eat me for Christmas if I wasn’t a good kid” From ‘troublesshotgun’
10. “My mom told me and my sister that if we fought she was taking us to jail. The fighting ceased immediately.” From ‘hops_and_barley’
Do you lie to your kids?
A survey done by Warburton’s found that around half of parents made up creative white lies to tell their kids, in order to improve behaviour.
The most common fib was about the tooth fairy (38%). Another 14% of parents have tricked their kids by winding the clock forward for bedtime and 2% admitted to telling their children that music from the ice cream van means it has ran out!
RELATED: Would you lie to your child?
We’re all guilty
Even the most honesty – conscious parents are surely guilty of bending the truth a little. For example:
“Mmm..your play-doh biscuit is delicious !”
“Yes, we’re nearly there”
“The injection won’t hurt at all”
“That’s a beautiful painting…what is supposed to be?”
And perhaps we’re forgetting one huge whopper many of us tell, concerning a plump man with a white beard and red coat coming down the chimney.
Don’t over-do it
If used sparingly, white lies can serve as a quick fix to a parenting problem. However, white lies are still lies. If you do it often, you risk breaking your child’s trust as well as encouraging them to be dishonest.
RELATED: 5 discipline mistakes parents make
We also strongly advise that you should stay clear of any white lies that will scare your child. This means the ‘10 most hilarious white lies from Reddit’ are strictly off limit!
RELATED: My child likes to lie and twist the truth!