However, since becoming a mother, I have found myself telling more and more lies.
It started with Father Christmas, then the Easter bunny, then the tooth fairy.
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| I can't believe I'm posting a picture of Santa Claus in the middle of the summer. |
As I was kissing 5 year old B goodnight, she said to me: "Look mummy, look up there." B's bed has a canopy over it and as I looked up where she pointed, I saw a big spider's web and, sitting proudly above the web, was its creator.
Now, while I'm not exactly frightened of spiders, I'm not that comfortable with handling them either. And I didn't fancy the circus of a spider chase just as I'd put her to bed. So I lied...
"Oh, you are such a lucky girl," I said. "That spider has spun a web to catch any bad dreams and now the spider is sat over you to watch you and make sure you sleep well."
"Spiders don't sleep, do they mummy?" she said.
"But they do rest B, they do rest." I replied.
And as I gave her another kiss goodnight and left her room I felt terribly guilty. How could such blatant lies so easily trip off my tongue?
What have I turned into?
What lies have you told your children?
I think possibly none, I'm afraid! I don't talk about Santa, the tooth fairy or the Easter Bunny - those stories all come from elsewhere, and I was delighted when Charlie said that he "didn't believe in the tooth fairy because fairies aren't real", I assured him that he would still get some pennies for his teeth because Mummy and Daddy would still put it there. A few weeks ago he came to the conclusion that Santa isn't real either, because "there are so many dressed up ones, and he can't possibly get round all the children either", I asked who delivered the presents then, he hesitated for a minute, "maybe the postman dressed in a robber suit - because he knows where we live and he always delivers things" then he hesitated a minute and said, "nooooo, I think it's you and daddy, because you love us". I agreed that this was probably right, and explained that the Santa story is to add a bit of special magic and fun to Christmas, and lots of children do believe, so he shouldn't tell everybody the truth just yet. Last night he came in to me at about 9pm worrying about burglars, because we don't have a burglar alarm or a neighbourhood watch. I assured him that we lock our doors and have a dog who would protect us. He was still worried that a burglar might get in. I agreed that it was possible, that a very determined burglar might come in and steal stuff, but explained that if they were that determined then they were obviously pretty desperate and needed the stuff more than us, but that Daddy and I would do everything we could to keep him safe. This truth seemed to satisfy him, and he went back to bed.
ReplyDeleteI always resolved to tell them the truth about everything, however hard, so that they know they can always trust what I say... interesting post!
You see, I'm a firm believer in the magic of childhood and how fairy tales can add a certain element of wonder and can help spark up their imagination that anything is possible.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll not feel quite so guilty about the lying if I frame it like that?