When is it ok to lie to your kids?

Disclaimer: I got a few of the "lying times" from this blog on Baby Center but most of them are mine :-)

There are a lot of different levels to the question "When is it ok to lie to your kids?" There are the more serious times, like when a child asks "Why did Daddy leave?" and the more exciting times like hiding the surprise trip to Disney World. There's also a very fine line of how much of this you should be doing, and an age where most lies (big or small) are totally unnecessary and frowned upon.

Here are my top OK lies for my children. 

1. "It's not broccoli, it's a tree and you're a Giant who has to devour it before it falls on all the townspeople!" (that lie hasn't worked so far. Apparently my son things the townspeople need to fend for themselves)

            1a. "Sorry sweetie! We are fresh out of cookies. We'll make some more later!" (Don't pretend like you haven't stashed the last cookie behind your back to satisfy your own sweet tooth! They don't need that extra sugar anyway)

2. That compromising time. You know, when it's been a full month and you're both exhausted, but you muster up the energy to light a few candles and have some sleepy Couple Time? Perfect time to exercise your right to lie. Your choice of excuses, of course. Knock on wood, it hasn't happened to us yet (Gotta love bedroom doors that lock) but I have my lines ready to go! We're wrestling. Daddy lost his ring under the blankets. I had a tickle monster in my belly and Daddy had to get it out. 

3. "If you don't pick up all the toys before bed, the floor will suck them in and feed them to their children." 

            3a. "The sweeper will get you if you don't get all the stuff off the floor." (This one is totally true, my mom said so!)

4. Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc. We don't plan on lying about Santa, though. For that we'll explain that he's a mascot for Christmas, and he makes the Holiday much more fun. (Somehow finding out the truth about Santa is much more crushing than any other mystical holiday puppeteer).

5. The more serious ones. My stepson is having some difficult times at his mother's house right now, and he is far too young to understand what is going on.

What about you? What light (or heavy) fibs have you told your children to save face (or cookie)?