Do as I say, not as I do.

Do as I do, not as I say.

Do not do what I say, just do what you do.

Do what I say, and as I do, but only when I say so.

Set the example.  Eat your peas.  Be a good person.  Always tell the truth.

My kids are pretty attached to me and that’s not only a nice thing but something I’d never complain about because I know it won’t last.  Over time, they have learned that its ok for Daddy to go to work in the morning because he’ll come back at the end of the day.  They don’t complain for even a second when I leave in the morning.  My wife and I have tried to use that to our advantage anytime we go out without the girls.

For example, if we had a babysitter on a Friday night, all it takes is something like, “Mommy and Daddy have a meeting for work.”  No problem.  They tell us that we’ll just play when we come home from our meeting.

If we said, “Mommy and Daddy are going to go out to a restaurant and perhaps a movie,” it would be World War 3.

Carte blanche for work-related disappearances and hell hath no fury for everything else.

So we lie…

…and then tell them that they should never lie.  I tell myself its for their own good but its really my own good.  I can’t stand leaving the house when they are crying hysterically about wanting to come with or even worse, “don’t leave me.”  Aren’t we all better off if they are happily playing and waving goodbye while telling us that they’ll see us when when we get home?  It certainly feels that way.

Just the other day, my wife, my sister, her husband, and I literally sneaked out of the house while my father was playing with not only my two kids, but one of my sister’s kids in our basement.

“Mom,” I said, “when they come up, if they ask, just tell them we went to a meeting for work,” as we went to the movies.

I’m not sure what’s worse: the act of lying, or starting to not feel bad about it.