➡I accidentally bought Balut eggs: 2 live ducks! Now a Chat Thread!

[Ursuline Chick]

Question for all of you. What was the biggest white lie your parents/family ever told you and did you believe it?

My dad told us kids we couldn't get a cat because it would suffocate us in our sleep. Not smother us by lying on our face or something, but take it's paw and pinch our nose closed with two of it's toes until we died.

Now, I'm not saying I really believed him, but to this day I don't really trust cats.

 

[Tesumph]

Not a white lie situation, but when the Ginger was a little kid a couple uncle/aunt family members would sit on him and tickle him until he was purple and couldn’t breathe. Sounds funny, except now his wife can barely touch him sometimes because he can’t stand ANY sort of ticklish feeling.

Yea, sit on your kid and tickle him until he’s crying and can’t breathe, what could go wrong?
I really hope I don’t mentally scar my future children somehow with something stupid like that.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Hmm. This is a tough one, my family was cruel.
When I was maybe 6 or so, my pet betta fish died. I kept it together until that night when I told my dad about Bluey’s death and he announced “looks like we’re having fish tonight!”
My sobbing was inconsolable. I can only imagine how much hell my mom gave him for that LOL.

When I was a bit older we went to some theme park, and I was waiting in line for a rollercoaster with my mom and sadistic bully of a cousin. I made it clear I did NOT want to get on the ride and they both thoroughly assured me that I could wait to the side with the ride’s employees while they went on the ride and then we could all move on. I was too busy being anxious about waiting with strangers to even consider that they were lying.
Well, we got to the front and at the last second I was (literally) picked up, strapped, and buckled into the ride. I still remember my mom assuring everyone around us (including the wide eyed ride operator) that I was just being silly while I screamed “LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW!”
Nope. The ride took off and I never forgave my mom or cousin.

Similar stunts were pulled and many lies were told to force me to go to the doctor as a kid. Guess who’s still terrified of rollercoasters and doctors? Thanks mom and dad!

i have never understood why some adults think it is funny to terrorize or humiliate small children.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

I guess my family's biggest white lie, was when I found a white hen in my grandmother's neighborhood when I was a kid. She made me ask all the neighbors if they had lost a chicken and told to me ask what color the chicken was if they said yes. If no one claimed the hen, I was told I could keep it. Well I got to keep the hen, we kept it in her backyard. I had the hen for a little while, I don't remember exactly how long. Then one day the hen was gone, and I was told she had given it to a neighbor who delivered fresh eggs to her house, the hen had gone to live on his farm. (remember this is all in the city). I think we had the hen for Sunday dinner. But to this day I don't know for sure.

 

[Tesumph]

i have never understood why some adults think it is funny to terrorize or humiliate small children.

Everything in moderation.. I believe in roughhousing and sucking it up to thicken some skin, but sometimes there is a fine line between terrorizing and good natured character building.

How do you walk the line between raising a bully vs. a total baby? (or worse, both)
In that sense, I’m not looking forward to raising children.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Light teasing and tickling, I think are okay. But if the child is crying or showing signs of being uncomfortable with the behavior, it should stop and not be repeated. IMHO

 

[Tesumph]

Light teasing and tickling, I think are okay. But if the child is crying or showing signs of being uncomfortable with the behavior, it should stop and not be repeated. IMHO

Agreed.. real crying means real pain or fear.
Emphasis on the “real,” I know some very good fake cryers lol (children AND adults!)

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Agreed.. real crying means real pain or fear.
Emphasis on the “real,” I know some very good fake cryers lol (children AND adults!)

My sister is one of those really good fakers (to this day)

 

[Ursuline Chick]

When we were young, my Daddy would play "bear" with us. He would lay on the floor and all 3 of us kids would try to pin one of his arms to the floor. We were never successful. He would growl and tickle us. I remember this as being great fun and asking to play this silly game on a regular basis.

 

[Pugsabi]

Everything in moderation.. I believe in roughhousing and sucking it up to thicken some skin, but sometimes there is a fine line between terrorizing and good natured character building.

How do you walk the line between raising a bully vs. a total baby? (or worse, both)
In that sense, I’m not looking forward to raising children.

I don't think you'll have the problem you think you'll have. Bullies are usually very insecure being babyish has nothing to do with it. It can be a balancing game when it comes to spoiling a child. Just don't take your advice from Twitter or BuzzFeed!

Light teasing and tickling, I think are okay. But if the child is crying or showing signs of being uncomfortable with the behavior, it should stop and not be repeated. IMHO

I think the biggest thing is the lack of empathy. Some adults forget that children lack life experience so what bothers them is a lot more intense at age six then at age twelve and so on. They tend to act like children are some kind of extension of themselves instead of their own person. Being Hispanic is not uncommon to be expected to hug and kiss your "family" when you meet them even if you've never met them before. Luckily my mom never forced me to do so, however, I know some of my cousins had to. You never saw the same insistence with an adult!