With a precious few minutes to peruse the Daily Mail newspaper the other day (the inlaws were entertaining Little Miss) I stumbled across an interesting article. The author was tackling the subject of lying. Apparently we (the royal we) lie at least 4 times a day in varying shapes and forms. I'm sure scientists were paid by the government to discover this. She decided to take on the challenge of NOT lying for an entire week. This was a supreme challenge, it turned out. If you think about it, how many lies do we really tell during the day? It's got to be in double figures. The little white lies count after all.
"How are you?"..."Fine!" Real answer = "Miserable really...I'm hungry, feel fat and ugly and you have bad breath!"
The author of this article was even manipulated by her 10-year-old daughter, who, knowing that her mother couldn't tell a lie, asked her questions like "When did you lose your virginity?" The mum answered "None of your business" which wasn't specifically a lie but just avoiding the truth. So, could you make it through an entire day without telling a lie? I know I'd find it tricky. You might very well succeed in p***ing off a lot of people. Which, I think is why we do tell "little white lies". Do passers-by or aquaintances really want to know how you are? Do we want to totally knock a friend for six when she asks, "Am I over-reacting to this?"? Do we want to crush our child's spirit by telling them that the real reason we are not buying the sweets in the store is because we can't afford it? No!!! We want to keep the world a happy place. Reality bites, after all. And, it also is a way to get our children, in particular, to do what we'd like them to do. I remember when I was a little girl, my mother told me that if I ever hit her, I'd be arrested! We lived across the road from the town chief of police so I knew that if I hit my Mummy, he'd come a-knockin'. Obviously a blatent lie (I think!) but she achieved her goal. Frightening me into good behaviour! What lies have you told to your husband/significant other? The list could be long, couldn't it? Ultimately I don't think the little white lies are the ones which hurt. In fact, they are probably the ones which keep the ball of life rolling smoothly. Do we want to know the truth? I don't think I do! I like living in my rosey world where everything is "fine". How 'bout you?
Feel free to share your favourite WHITE LIE...to hubby, mum, children or friends. I'd love to learn some new ones!
Cheers for now!
Posts
2 years ago
"Thank you so much for cooking tea tonight, I really appreciate the effort." (me to hubby)
ReplyDelete"Did you like it?" (hubby asks)
erm. No it was really quite horrible. What were you thinking? How did you turn all those lovely fresh ingredients into something so offensive??
"Ooooh, yes it was delicious, thank you"
My 18 month old cannot lie, and did not touch a bite, much to Daddy's confusion....
Brilliant! I think it's part of Hubby's plans to not have to cook. If I do it horribly, maybe she won't make me do it! We stick to Beans on Toast for him...I tackle the rest. :) Cheers for the comment!
ReplyDeleteSo, tell me, were your inlaws really visiting and is that really why you were reading the Mail?
ReplyDeleteGreat post, BTW.
Oh, cheers A Modern Mother! Actually, we were visiting them. They subscribe to the Mail and I usually flip the pages while keeping an eye, ear and wayward hand on Little Miss as MIL peels potatoes and FIL mows the grass. Now that Little Miss is mobile, she's much more fun so they readily take her off my hands...and I've learned to let them. A valuable lesson.
ReplyDelete:) Karin