Wake Up Already
88,0000 lies. That's approxamately how many each of us will tell in our lifetime according to this story. Sounds reasonable enough to me.
Stacy and I have told way more lies since becoming parents. Unfortunately, our propogation of untruths may be leading our daughter to an inaccurate view of proper sleeping habits.
It all started during the Christmas break. We spent a few days with my in-laws, who just so happen to have a horse. Said horse is named "Chica" and Elli is obsessed with that thing. Always asking to go outside to see the horse, straining to find a window through which she can perhaps catch a glimpse of the horse, never relenting in her quest for the horse.
There comes a point when you just can't go see the horse anymore. Like when it is 20 degrees outside and there is a raging blizzard. Or when you have already been out to see the horse a couple of times. Both happened in my experience.
After being worn down by requests, we started lying. Constant bombardment of requests for the equine will cause one to fudge on their moral sensibilities.
"Chica! Chica! Horse! Chica!"
"Elli, we can't go see Chica. She's taking a nap."
"Chica nap?"
"Yep. Chica's asleep."
Amazingly, our rationale went unquestioned. I think it has partly to do with the fact that Elli has very little concept that people will typically reserve their sleeping for nighttime. Stacy will come home from a 30-hour shift and understandably go to sleep for a few hours in the middle of the day. When Elli asks for mommy, I rightly tell her that mommy is taking a nap. Case closed.
The problem is that now Elli assumes that if she cannot see someone, they must be taking a nap.
I couldn't figure out why she was wandering our house saying "Chica nap" for the longest time, until she asked for her papa one day. "No, papa's at home. We can't see him right now."
"Papa nap."
Great. The propogation of lies has spawned a warped world view.
The moral of the story is: don't lie to your kids. Unless they wake up at 5am like ours did this morning. Then, when they ask to watch Elmo, you can tell them that Elmo is taking a nap. At least that's what we did.
Fair Dinkum
Stacy and I have told way more lies since becoming parents. Unfortunately, our propogation of untruths may be leading our daughter to an inaccurate view of proper sleeping habits.
It all started during the Christmas break. We spent a few days with my in-laws, who just so happen to have a horse. Said horse is named "Chica" and Elli is obsessed with that thing. Always asking to go outside to see the horse, straining to find a window through which she can perhaps catch a glimpse of the horse, never relenting in her quest for the horse.
There comes a point when you just can't go see the horse anymore. Like when it is 20 degrees outside and there is a raging blizzard. Or when you have already been out to see the horse a couple of times. Both happened in my experience.
After being worn down by requests, we started lying. Constant bombardment of requests for the equine will cause one to fudge on their moral sensibilities.
"Chica! Chica! Horse! Chica!"
"Elli, we can't go see Chica. She's taking a nap."
"Chica nap?"
"Yep. Chica's asleep."
Amazingly, our rationale went unquestioned. I think it has partly to do with the fact that Elli has very little concept that people will typically reserve their sleeping for nighttime. Stacy will come home from a 30-hour shift and understandably go to sleep for a few hours in the middle of the day. When Elli asks for mommy, I rightly tell her that mommy is taking a nap. Case closed.
The problem is that now Elli assumes that if she cannot see someone, they must be taking a nap.
I couldn't figure out why she was wandering our house saying "Chica nap" for the longest time, until she asked for her papa one day. "No, papa's at home. We can't see him right now."
"Papa nap."
Great. The propogation of lies has spawned a warped world view.
The moral of the story is: don't lie to your kids. Unless they wake up at 5am like ours did this morning. Then, when they ask to watch Elmo, you can tell them that Elmo is taking a nap. At least that's what we did.
Fair Dinkum