People on Twitter are sharing the white lies they tell their kids

Before you become a parent, you probably assume that you’re going to be nothing but honest with your kids. Then they arrive, and — well — things don’t necessarily go to plan. That’s one of the many reasons why we love this Twitter thread started by writer Nicole Cliffe about the white lies parents tell their kids. Cliffe is a mother of three, which means she definitely has a few tricks up her sleeve when it comes to the whole parenting thing.

Her initial tweet made a lot of parents — and former children — speak up about the lies they’ve told or have been told in their lives. Cliffe’s first tweet was a lie she happened to tell her kids that exploded once the babysitter arrived with a few treats. “We had so many great months of the kids thinking that Scooby Snacks were plain whole wheat crackers, and then a babysitter bought a box of Scooby fruit snacks and the whole system collapsed in under three minutes,” she tweeted.

Here are just a few of the highlights people shared.

My folks ripped the voice box out of a talking Bugs Bunny, SEWED IT BACK UP, told me thieves broke in the house while 3-y-o Ken slept. I believed we’d been victims of incredibly selective burglars until I was *18* and told my gf the story.

— Ken Walczak (@largerdirks) January 23, 2018

To be fair, his parents were thinking ahead. Talking toys can drive parents to the brink of insanity after weeks of play.

My aunt and uncle live 20 minutes from Anaheim and the first time they took their three sons to Disneyland they drove 4 hours out of the way so the kids wouldn’t know it was basically in their backyard.

— Mags (@Magsmorris) January 23, 2018

At least the kids got to experience a real road trip.

My parents told me my goldfish ran away to be with his mom and I believed them for years!

— Liz Charboneau (@lizchar) January 23, 2018

We can’t stop laughing. Children may not be able to comprehend the death of a pet, but they definitely know a mother’s love.

I love this thread. I have taken some things like this reaaaally far. Like, my daughter once threw a piece of milk chocolate out the window because she thought there was something wrong with it (she had been given only dark chocolate her entire life).

— Joanna McNeal Carden (@joannamcneal) January 23, 2018

We think we can all remember what it was like to discover there was more than one type of chocolate in the world.

we live next to a public park; I got a year of telling my kid that ice cream trucks were "music trucks"

— Kathryn VanArendonk (@kvanaren) January 23, 2018

A lot of parents likely jotted this note down for their own use. false

We’d pay money to see that presentation.

My dad told me that in every herd of cows there's always one cow named Herman, so every time we drove by cows we would roll down the windows and yell "HERRRRMAN!" and look for the one who looked up. I was in my teens before I realized this was not an actual thing.

— Kate Havard Rozansky (@KateHavard) January 23, 2018

#Relatable. false

We guess this thread proves once and for all that honest isn’t always the best policy. At least when toddlers are involved.