Well, maybe that isn’t the most truthful post title I’ve ever written. I mean I believe lying is wrong and everything, but um…
You see, um, it’s just that SOMETIMES your kids catch you off guard. And they don’t give you enough TIME to think of a nice way to put the truth. OR, maybe you don’t KNOW exactly what the truth IS.
Or maybe, you just want to shield their precious, tender feelings. The other day I read this post by Michelle at 937 Moms who is now practically living a double-life that started with a pet-related “little white lie”. Ah, the moral depravity our children drive us to! Michelle’s post got me thinking about a little pet-related, um, half-truth of my own that I must confess I sold to Joshua recently.
You see, our cat Molly has not been quite right for about three weeks. She’s eating, drinking, peeing and pooping in the right places, grooming herself, and still trying to lay on me 24 hours a day – but she doesn’t quite have her balance anymore. She kind of falls over sideways sometimes when she jumps up on the couch and she can no longer jump over the kitchen gate.
Joshua L-O-V-E-S Molly so he has been a little concerned about her. A week or so ago, he was petting her as she slept (which she does 95% of the time) and then all of a sudden he turned to me with tears in his eyes and said, “Mommy, is Molly going to die?”
My heart dropped to my stomach as one of those big fat tears rolled down his cheek. “No, honey, no, Molly is going to be just fine,” I reassured him.
Of course what I was thinking, was, “Unless she gets worse. Because there is no way in H-E-L-L your daddy and I are spending hundreds of dollars to find out what’s wrong with her. So if she gets worse, she IS going to die. Because we will have her put to sleep.”
But you know, I just couldn’t quite bring myself to say that to my five-year-old.
Apparently it doesn’t matter too much, though, because about a week later, when he was once again petting a sleeping Molly, the same tender-hearted little boy looked at me and said, “You know, Mommy, I was just thinking, if Molly dies, we can just get a new kitty.”
Poor Molly. He didn’t even cover her ears when he said it!
This time, I told another half-truth.
“We’re not going to get another kitty, Joshua. I think we’re going to have Molly for a long time.”
Translation: There is no way we are ever getting a new cat when our cats kick the bucket. And I have no idea when that will be.
But ya know. Not gonna say that to a five-year-old either. I figure we’ll cross that shallow grave when we come to it.
So easy to be caught off guard and throw out things – and those are the things your kids never forget. LOL
Pre-kids, I was a therapist. I used to tell parents that one of the hardest things about being a parent was that they always had to be one step ahead of the little buggers mentally so they were prepared with answers and consequences and ideas. I didn’t realize how right I was until I had kids!
This could have been a conversation in our house. Our cat is 14 and while I love her, I so do not want to get another cat! Vet prices have just gone through the roof. And litter boxes…need I say more?
Since I got transferred quite a bit in my 30 years with TPC (The Phone Company…it’s just easier), Shelby understood what transferred meant. Sooooooo, one of her cats, got transferred too. Oh yes, and as far as lying to your kids is concerned…it’s not lying if it protects you, er them!
At least you didn’t kill your daughter’s fish.
And lied about it.
Only for her to find out, a few years later, that YOU were actually the FISH MURDERER.
And, she reminds you of that fact often.
… just a little glimpse into our pet problems.
I don’t look forward to these conversations ONE BIT! Our cats are 6 and 7 years old, so presumably, when they get to the old-cat age, Annalyn will be old enough to be scarred for life when they die.
Clearly, we didn’t think this through.
Sometimes with tender subjects, a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do. 😉
LOL! I am the brutally honest mom I guess. It does help when we lived on a farm for 4 years, they get used to the circle of life. Plus, I think back to when my mom had to put my dog Toby to sleep when I was 7. And that is exactly what she said. I didn’t understand that he didn’t wake up. I kept asking her why the vet was letting him sleep so long. I was devastated to learn later what that meant.
LOL! I am the brutally honest mom I guess. It does help when we lived on a farm for 4 years, they get used to the circle of life. Plus, I think back to when my mom had to put my dog Toby to sleep when I was 7. And that is exactly what she said. I didn’t understand that he didn’t wake up. I kept asking her why the vet was letting him sleep so long. I was devastated to learn later what that meant.