Published on 12:00 AM, September 13, 2018

Lies my mother told me

Parenting is hard and children not always lovable. To make this difficult job a little easier, mothers and fathers sometimes resort to little white lies. I've compiled a list of the lies we all probably heard at one point in our childhood:

 

IF YOU DON'T SHARE FOOD, YOUR STOMACH WILL HURT

Truth be told, this lie might be well-intentioned because what are the chances that the farm er murgi our parents raised us to be will want to share the tasty food we get? However, like all things, this too can be misused, especially if another person uses this to get a taste of the dish he or she was really craving and couldn't control their greed.

 

TWO FASTS IN ONE DAY

For some reason or other, nearly everyone wants to fast when they are young. Maybe it's because we want to feel like we're grown up or maybe it's because our parents inadvertently make us feel like we can't do it, but almost all Bangladeshi children are determined to fast when Ramadan comes around. Our parents on the other hand know that while we can talk the talk, most of us really can't fast the fast. Our mothers however, have devised an ingenious way to get around this dilemma. They have convinced us that for us young people, having lunch means fasting twice in one day. And most of us believed it, because it seemed too good to be true.

 

SEE HOW GOOD ANIKA IS

This is not an intentional lie, because she really does think Anika is a very good girl who accidentally ended up on Earth when she slipped and fell from Heaven. She sees Anika's grades and Anika's manners but she doesn't see Anika's Snapchat stories where she is seen in places hanging out with people you would be forbidden from mingling with.

 

THE OLD LADY FROM THE MOON IS COMING TO GET YOU

This is the lie she told you when she wanted you to take a nap. This lie of course had many variations – sometimes it was Shakchunni, sometimes it was the old lady with the yarn ball, sometimes it was the ghost in the horror movie your parents explicitly forbid you from watching. However, one thing these lies have in common is that they all scared you enough to take a nap. Yes, your mother made you take naps to ensure you were fully rested but she also made you take naps so that she herself could get some rest to take care of the unruly, hyper, and demanding child that you probably were.

 

CLEANLINESS IS A VIRTUE

Most mothers have this odd obsession with being clean and keeping things clean. She believes being clean is of the utmost importance and will randomly pick out stories and information to prove her point. You will have to try really hard to justify your laziness when you don't want to take a shower. Mothers will not listen to reason when it comes to cleanliness. In fact, if you show her studies showing that intelligent people are messy, you will have a hard time trying to convince your mom that this information is actually true.