Raising my boys is a lot of fun. It's also a challenge for someone who does not believe in even "white lies." I thought of three instances of this challenge when talking to my wife today. Observe the following scenarios:
- You're over at a friends house with your children and they serve your child liver
- Your son is having a Birthday party and wants to invite everyone in his class with a couple exceptions.
- If someone gives your son a gift he already has or doesn't care for, what should he say?
I don't know if there's a way around it, but all of these put us in a position to at least withhold information and at most deceive someone.
- For the first one, we tell them to leave it on the plate and eat the things you like, but NEVER tell them you don't like it. When they are older we will probably tell him to eat it anyhow.
- For the second one we say, invite them anyhow. Even though we don't like them, we don't want to hurt their feelings. Anyone who has made out a list for a wedding knows that this is extremely important!
- On the last one, you usually feign pleasure in the gift and while wondering where you can return the gift in hopes of getting a store credit. OK, that last part is more me than one of my son's, but you get the drift. We tell our sons to thank them nicely.
Interesting isn't it. Our society has a hold on us in ways we just deem completely acceptable despite it being borderline deceptive.
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