little white lies

I'll admit it. Sometimes I tell little white lies. Usually not for malicious intent, but to make things run smoother. I used to hate it when I caught my mother telling me a little white lie. Such as "That's not cod fish you're eating, I swear it's halibut." But I always knew. I know a cod fish when I taste one. I'm sure in her mind her little white lie about the little white fish was ok because it was good for me.

I swore that I would not do many things that my mother did when I became a parent. But it turns out she was right about a lot of things. And I have told the occasional little white lie (besides the big one about santa, but I think that Jewish Studies at school is taking care of that one).

Anyway, when Shel was younger and one of his "chores" was washing himself in the bath, I wasn't sure that he was getting in all the body parts. So to make sure that everything got washed, I told him that if he didn't wash his penis well it would fall off. Of course he has started questioning my reasoning and asked me repeatedly if this is true. But to admit the truth would be admitting that I told a little white lie. I can't let my son think that I would lie to him. That's breaking the faith.

While I'm at it I'm going to come clean about another little white lie I told many years ago and I'm not sure how to rectify. When I was in high school I had my mother knit a pair of wool socks for a friend. Somehow he ended up believing that I made the socks and I never corrected his belief (I mean, how cool is it to be able to make a pair of wool socks?). So years later he moves to the wilds of British Columbia and I get a letter saying that he went boating and lost the socks.

Being that I chreish this friend, I immediately called my mother and asked her to make him another pair of socks. Fully intending to come clean and admit the whole history of the socks. Then I get a letter saying that he cried when he opened my package and how touched he was that I made him another pair of socks.

Well, hello, what am I supposed to do now? Am I supposed to come clean at this point and admit that I never made the damn socks? Again, here I am breaking the faith.

I am fully convinced that little white lies do nothing but cause trouble. So, if my friend reads this, I am making amends and finally coming clean. I should have told you the truth years ago, but I was really touched that you thought I was capable of making something like that.