Today I told big man, that if he didn't behave himself in the garden centre coffee shop I would throw him in the fish tank and feed him to the rather hungry and boisterous catfish that lives there. Pure terror came over his face and he sat down nicely. It's amazing the amount of white lies we all tell our kids. There's the obvious Santa, Easter bunny, tooth fairy to start with and then there's the everyday white lies or silly sayings, that seem to pour out of my mouth on a regular basis.

I was somewhere in the region of 25 years old when I realised my own Father had told me a white lie. One that he had no recollection of even telling me. You see he told me that he had worked in a shoe shop. To a five year old who was in awe of her Fathers amazing shoe lacing and bow tieing skills, it seemed logical that my Dad had once had a saturday job at Clarks!

So have I always been truthful to my boys, of course not. Big man's currently extremely worried about what time a four and a half year old will turn into a pumpkin. At four you turn into a pumpkin at 7.30pm. He knows that as you get older it takes longer to turn into a pumpkin, and that the rule doesn't seem to work for babies. But the sure fire way to get big man running up the stairs is to tell him that his hair is turning green, and his face is slightly orange. He's tucked up in bed before you know it desperately trying to fall asleep quickly.

Big man has also shouted at his brother before after I had made a passing comment that middle man may pop if he eats any more. Big man was rather distressed, and started shouting at middle man that he must not have any more food, even if his main concern wasn't the fate of his brother but the mess he would create.

I'm not the only person to make up things, my friend used to tell her daughter that if she was lying her tongue would go blue. I must admit I giggled watching her daughter refuse to open her mouth and show her Mum her tongue. I've decided that it's OK to tell the odd white lie. Lets just hope that big man doesn't reach the age of 25 thinking he could turn into a pumpkin at midnight.

Feel free to share any of your little white lies with me, as I'm sure they will come in handy!