Being truthful about the gifts we buy or the Purple Polk-a-dotted People Eater

Image from freestitches.com

My daughter had asked me if I bought the Easy  Bake Oven she wanted for Christmas. I tauntingly said I didn't know. But that isn't true--I did know. Sure I had that tone to my voice. But that's kind of like gambling. And even small lies like this are a bad example. "I'm not telling" would be a more truthful response. But I hate when my kids say that to one another.

The nest time my girls asked me about their gifts, I had a new answer.  It was completely random but fun and silly. The Purple Polk-a-dotted People Eater.  Now if the someone in our family asks another what gift they will be giving them for Christmas there is an understood answer.

"I got you a Purple Polk-A-Dotted People Eater. "

We all know this is a silly, impossible statement. But it beats the teasing lies they used to tell, because everyone knows with certainty that the gift isn't a Purple Polk-A-Dotted People Eater.  It is a fun response and so much easier than saying,"I can't tell you."

I tell my girls, "If your sister peppers you with questions about her gift, just say you got her a  Purple Polk-A-Dotted People Eater.  She will know it isn't true." I coach them to say it over and over again. Eventually someone giggles. And the impulse to whisper the treasured secret disappears.

Someday I am going to make a one eyed, one horned, flying, purple people eater and wrap it up for under the tree. Then I can say, "I told you so."

What do you say when your kids ask you what you got them for Christmas?