Lies

I was reading an old post and saw where my lovely daughter, Sarah, mentioned building a glorious bonfire with little girl toys. It reminded me of how I use to get her to clean her room. I would explain to her how when her toys piled up in the floor, there was this thing called spontaneous combustion and they would just burst into flames, and it could burn our whole house down and we might die in our sleep. She bought into it and she would pick her toys up and put them back on the shelf. Nevermind that she still has screaming nightmares everynight, at least the toys were put away.

And how does one get their children to brush their teeth before bed? All my kids believed me when I told them bugs would grow on their teeth at night. Never once did I say insects, but I'm pretty sure that is what was running through each kids' little brain. I could usually see the wheels turning when Sarah was thinking on something real hard. She was only about 2 the first time she put up a fight about brushing her teeth. I didn't think she'd understand about bacteria rotting her teeth so I told her that SOMETIMES people who don't brush get bugs growing on their teeth. She looked concerned and asked me what kind of bugs. I was vague, I said "Oh, like spiders and cockroaches." She looked horrified and quite scared. I told her she wouldn't ever have to worry about it if she brushed her teeth and she jumped right up and took care of business. Erin and Emily didn't even question it. Akiko even told them the bugs ate their pacifiers when it was time to get rid of them. I still remember the sad look on Erin's face when she told me about her pacifier. She said "No more bobble. Bug eat" and looked like she might cry. I wasn't sure I understood what she said and I looked at Akiko and she had that SHT-eating grin on her face. When the girls were out of ear-shot, she told me that she told them the bugs ate their bottles and pacifiers, and they totally accepted it.

Sorry, I can't provide a link to Erin's blog since she won't start one. it's a pity, she is an excellent writer. I do have a lovely picture of her though. She is the little girl in the middle wearing the black dress.