A few days ago, Country Living posted a meme about the “facts” that parents tell their kids. The post got over 13,000 likes and generated almost 1500 comments. It obviously struck a chord. For some, it brought back memories from their own childhoods. For others, they shared the fibs they were telling their own kids. Interestingly, there were only a very few who found the whole idea a bit repulsive. They believed that “lying” to kids was shameful and unnecessary (I counted only four people in all).
When I was growing up, wives’ tales were prevalent. Some made us laugh and some we believed were true for far longer than our parents ever imagined. I’m sharing some of the most popular ones.
By far, the number one fib was: “When the ice cream truck plays music, it means it’s out of ice cream”. My son-in-law recently told me the price for an ice cream truck treat nowadays and I kind of understand this one now!
Here’s some “truths” I can also get behind (especially if you have sensitive kids):
“Deer like to take naps by the side of the road.”
“There are farms where dogs go to retire.”
“Goldfish sometimes have to go back to the ocean through the toilet.”
“Chicken the animal, and chicken the food, aren’t the same thing.”
“If you’re having a bad dream, you can turn your pillow over to the good dream side.”
Then, there’s those truths that are for the sole benefit of the parents:
“There’s a 10,000 word limit a month and if you reach that limit, you physically can’t talk anymore.”
“Chuck E. Cheese is by invitation only.”
“Restaurants have adult only days, no kids allowed.”
“McDonald’s is closed pretty much all of the time.”
And, the sayings that “help” with discipline:
“If you throw a fit in the mall, the mall police come and arrest you.”
“There is a Target tantrum jail for kids who are naughty in Target.”
“If you don’t eat your veggies, you have to have veggie shots.”
“All parents have Santa’s personal phone number.”
Finally, the rather humorous ones:
“If you make that face, it will stick that way.”
“Kissing boys gives you zits.”
“Raisins are really dead flies scraped from window sills.”
“There’s an eject button in cars for children who misbehave.”
“If you swallow a cherry pit, a tree will grow out of your bum (the same happens with gum!).”
“I-pads don’t work when it’s nice outside.”
“Playing video games for longer than 30 minutes will cause blindness.”
“TVs sometimes run out of batteries.”
So, how about it? Were you told some of these “Mom-truths” when you were growing up? Have you passed some on to your kids? Or, do you believe in complete honesty? Share some of your mom-isms with us in the comments.
Read more of Ann’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
