“Don’t Lie to Kids” says the sticker on my wife’s laptop computer. But I recently attended a picnic where I witnessed an exception. The kid was 2 and being fed a pancake with strawberry jam on it. A single bite ended up on the ground apparently ending the world for this child. Despite the majority of pancake still available on the plate, he HAD to have the one bite that he lost on the ground and was inconsolable otherwise.
I watched the parent deftly distract the child and kick the morsel away from the table. Even though the fallen pancake bite was nowhere to be seen, the child still desired it. At which point the mother told her child that she already put it back on the plate. With that, the child calmed down and decided he could finish the pancake. And a dog got a really good treat.
I sat there in awe of this slick maneuver. Not a beat was missed between the time that the pancake bite was kicked away and the little white lie calmed the two year old. I’m sure this comes with experience but I was still immensely impressed with how smoothly and quickly it all happened. And I have no doubt that this is a lie that will never come back to mother or child.
Generally speaking, I think someone who lies to kids is an ass. But there are clearly shades of gray here in which lying benefits everyone involved. Now comes the fun part of trying to navigate the different shades of ass and hope that my ass-meter never tips too far to the right.
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