Being a parent often means juggling truth, teaching, and a touch of improvisation. Sometimes, a small well-placed lie can avoid a meltdown, help move things along… or simply bring a smile. In a light-hearted survey by Parents, several grown-ups revealed the funniest little stories they once told their children. And surprisingly, these tricks often work like magic.
Everyday situations spark parental creativity
You might think children ask the most absurd questions. But actually, it’s the most ordinary situations that bring out the best parental imagination. A forgotten hat, a meal refused, or a mini wardrobe rebellion—and suddenly, the creative gears start turning.
Take Jen S., for example. Her son wouldn’t wear a hat in the middle of winter. So she told him it was a special baseball helmet. Problem solved, hat on head, and everyone got on with their day smiling.
When potty training becomes a fashion statement
Sometimes, the desire to be like an older sibling becomes an unexpected tool. Erin Murphy knew how to use that perfectly. Her daughter desperately wanted to wear jeans like her brother, but was still in diapers. The fix? A little white lie:” I told her jeans don’t fit over diapers.” Result? Fully potty-trained in a single day. The little girl bought it—until years later, when she saw a toddler in jeans and realized mom had totally made that up. But by then, mission accomplished.
At the dinner table, all tricks are fair game
Getting kids to eat is a daily challenge for many parents. Culinary lies, it turns out, are a time-honored tradition. Karie Fugett told her child that the yellow part of a hard-boiled egg was cheese. Surprisingly effective.
Others went even further. Jennifer S. faced a picky eater who only liked pizza from a now-closed restaurant. So she told her that the chefs from the old place had come to train the new ones. That did the trick—the child finally tried the new pizza, which then became the only one she would eat.
Sometimes, lies lead to lovely habits
Some little lies don’t just solve a problem on the spot. They help build gentle new habits that stick.
Liz M. experienced this first-hand. She told her daughter that books were not allowed in bed, saying beds were strictly for sleeping. The result? Her daughter began hiding a whole stash of books under her covers and started reading every night. A harmless trick that turned into a warm routine.
And sometimes, it becomes a family tradition
A few of these stories evolve into sweet family rituals. Dawn Leeson found a tender way to soothe her kids when they had the hiccups: “When you have the hiccups, you are growing taller.’ Made my kids relax about getting rid of them, they went away much quicker, and [they] were excited to have the hiccups. They are now 18 and 17 [years old] and I heard my daughter excitedly tell her 10-year-old cousin that she was growing when she heard her hiccup.” A tiny lie turned into a comforting family truth.
