Forums » Smalltalk » What white lie did your parents tell you as a kid?

My grandfather got me a cat for my birthday without consulting my parents. I loved this cat to bits, my parents didn't get a chance to say no- he literally handed it to me as a present. My parents couldn't figure out how to make me understand that we couldn't afford a cat. She wasn't fixed or chipped, didn't have any shots. They finally got her shots and a vet visit but the vet really wanted her to get fixed because she had something wrong with her. My parents, again, couldn't afford this (and hadn't been planning for vet bills or anything) so they wound up finding a friend to take her and take care of her properly. She wound up passing away because of the medical issue she had, but at least she got her best chance. My mom told me for years that she was living on a farm and that she had gone to see her, that her friend called today to tell me Hermione (yeah I was a nerd) was doing well anytime I asked about her, and then finally came clean when I was a little older. I was still super upset, but she softened the blow for me in a situation that was super uncomfortable for her and my dad to be in because someone didn't think about our financial situation.

Alternatively, I'm a parent now, and I've had to tell a few white lies. Here's a more lighthearted one.

Last year, my husbands Uncle showed up playing Santa Clause on Christmas day. He looked really good, and my daughter really enjoyed it but when he left this smart little brat, who was five at the time, looks at me and goes, "There was something.. familiar about him..." And not even five minutes later goes, "Was that Uncle Clint??" and if you could have seen the LOOK on my face as I stuttered through all the reasons why that was really Santa and absolutely NOT Uncle Clint and then we played for like four hours with her toys to distract her from thinking about it.

If you don't brush your teeth all your teeth will fall out.

Mom told me peridot was pronounced as with a silent t (like perido) so everytime I said it I'd sound stupid.

Thanks mom.

That my grandma's boyfriend lived in the coal room in the basement.

Actually, many people do say it that way.

One Christmas, my parents must have decided that it just wouldn't do to have a, iunno, 10-12 year old who didn't believe in Santa? So after presents were opened and everything, like a couple hours later, they call me back down. They give me a little box with a bracelet in it, and tell me, "Oh Santa came and said he forgot this." Like, dad stated it like it was totally true and I'd be crazy not to believe it, but that was the extent of the effort. That, and mom insisting for years that she still believed in Santa.

Back when I was in first grade, I asked my mom where all the smoke from chimneys and car pipes went. She said, “It blows away in the wind.”

(Edit - since it isn’t worth bumping the thread to explain that the crap spewed out into the air by burning things just doesn’t “blow away” and disappear in the wind. It just goes somewhere else. It didn’t make sense to six year old me, and it doesn’t now, yet that is the thinking behind ‘exhausting’ Pollutants into a closed system that humans depend on to live. Was it a “lie”? Not technically, but it seemed like one at the time.)

But... how is that a lie? Like... that's literally what happens. Wind blows it out of the area, disbursing the particles off to other places.

I'm so confused by some of these. Some are incorrect, but probably not lies (lies are intentionally giving incorrect information) since it's common belief (like food+swimming=cramps and potential drowning), and some are actually true, at least in as much as had been presented...

I should probably leave this thread, huh?

When the ice cream truck plays his song, he is out of ice cream.

I'm calling child protective services GOSH.

The way I interpret some of these is that some people may think “white lie” can also refer to a warning they disregarded that didn’t wind up being a big deal. For example, I swam all throughout childhood after eating and never got a cramp. That’s not to say it isn’t possible, but that it just didn’t happen to me.

Misunderstanding or otherwise, bottom line is I don’t mind people sharing and don’t discourage anyone from posting in my thread! It’s not meant to be that serious.

A "friend" of mine was jealous of my favorite stuffed animal, so she stole it and then pretended that she got one exactly like it. When I told her I couldn't find mine, she acted innocent, but my parents figured it out. I suppose they didn't want me to lose a friend or they took pity on my friend because her family was poor and really... Dysfunctional, so they hunted down a stuffed animal exactly like mine and pretended that they found it for me.

I didn't learn that this happened until I was 18. I was telling someone about the various "surgeries" my stuffed animal went through and when I mentioned how I had to restuff his neck because "it was stuffed into a weird corner when my parents found him", my parents cringed cause they realized I still didn't know. His neck was actually bent because of the box he was mailed in.

My parents went on to explain what actually happened and I was surprised to learn that it was difficult for them to find a replacement, apparently he was quite a rare toy. I wasn't too heart broken though. Like I said, that friend of mine had a very bizarre upbringing and we were super young, so I find it hard to be upset. If anything, it makes me sad to think that she had no other way of getting toys she liked.

I don't know...I think that one's kind of true. Although it takes a while.

I guess the more accurate way to put it would be, "if you don't brush your teeth and your teeth will eventually either fall out, or you will have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars at the dentist trying to save them."

Hm. No, I've never heard of a parent saying this one until right now. Lol

These are fun to read