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Fibbing by omission

(104 Posts)
vampirequeen Tue 23-Jan-24 10:12:42

Do you ever just let someone believe something is happening even though it isn't?

This is just a fun thread so let's play nice.

DH thinks I use a new teabag each time I make him a cup of tea. He drinks really weak tea so the teabag barely touches the water. I use the same tea bag 3 times as long as it's not been too long since it was last used. DH would be horrified if he realised.

When DD1 was 4, I made the mistake of buying her a crying doll for Christmas. By lunch time on Christmas Day it was driving me insane so I flipped the batteries the wrong way. She saw the batteries were still in and accepted my explanation that they must have run out of power because her baby had cried so much.

V3ra Tue 23-Jan-24 10:31:39

Years ago my husband was having trouble sleeping, he also drank loads of tea. I started buying decaff tea bags and put them in the tin without telling him.
For three weeks he came home from work and lay on the bed saying he had a bad headache... (caffeine withdrawal?)
Eventually he realised, and I admitted what I'd done.
He said he did actually feel a lot better for it and has drunk decaff tea ever since.
I did feel a bit guilty at the time though ☹️

tanith Tue 23-Jan-24 11:08:50

When my husband was alive he loved stews but he would only want meat carrots onion and potato and dumplings in it. I would bung in swede celery and pearl barley I just had to be careful when putting his out not to include them on his plate how he never noticed all the extras on my plate I’ve no idea but I did the same thing for years.
I did put parsnip in once and he kept saying this stew tastes funny like you’ve put sugar in it. So I didn’t do it again.

Gwyllt Tue 23-Jan-24 11:33:51

When I scratched my car on the gate
I said nothing it wasn’t long before he noticed When I acted surprised he said it had probably been a trolley in the supermarket car park
Who was I to argue 😊

welbeck Tue 23-Jan-24 12:55:03

the exhausted batteries reminded me of all the parents who explain that the ice-cream vendor rings his jingles (!) to tell people that he has run out of ice-cream, so not to bother coming out.

Germanshepherdsmum Tue 23-Jan-24 13:06:06

Reading this, I realise I have zero ability to lie or deceive. I just can’t do it.

keepcalmandcavachon Tue 23-Jan-24 13:21:46

Absolutely no one in this house has ever known (or will ever know) that variety packs of biscuits come with 3 chocolate fingers grin

Juliet27 Tue 23-Jan-24 13:28:34

With you GSM !

V3ra Tue 23-Jan-24 13:50:28

tanith we were at my sister-in-law's years ago and I said dinner smells nice, what are we having?
Beef bourguinon, she replied, but if dad asks it's stew.
He wouldn't eat anything "foreign" 🙄

welbeck when my husband was little they had an ice cream van that came round the streets and also a wet-fish van. They both had the same chimes and mother-in-law always said it was the fish van.
My husband grew up wondering why people wanted to buy fish twice a day 🤔

keepcalmandcavachon I'm on your side with the chocolate fingers 🤫😋😅

hollysteers Tue 23-Jan-24 14:02:17

I’m a singer, so if things crop up, I don’t want to do I just say I’m singing or rehearsing 🙂🎼

Gwyllt Tue 23-Jan-24 14:23:23

GSM I thought you were a lawyer 😄

Germanshepherdsmum Tue 23-Jan-24 14:24:29

Indeed I was. A very honest one.

Urmstongran Tue 23-Jan-24 14:40:29

When the girls were little but aware I used to move the hands of the bathroom clock forward at bath time … to almost bedtime if I was weary. “Time for teeth brushing now girls and nightshirts on”.

Callistemon21 Tue 23-Jan-24 15:02:23

Germanshepherdsmum

Reading this, I realise I have zero ability to lie or deceive. I just can’t do it.

I can't lie.

But I suppose being economical with the truth is different.

Or what my Mum used to call 'a white lie' which was a fib but to spare someone's feelings.

Germanshepherdsmum Tue 23-Jan-24 15:04:13

Well yes, I do tell people ‘I’m fine’ regardless of how I feel so I guess that’s not telling the truth.

Gwyllt Tue 23-Jan-24 15:11:59

GSM you must be a very special one as have spent many years getting fee notes out of solicitors. I could give an entertaining after dinner speech on all the excuses I have heard and claims they have already paid

Mizuna Tue 23-Jan-24 15:18:59

My blind daughter, as a young child, took a dislike to cream (she was allergic). At the time she was fascinated by the concept of colour and I was very creative in describing colour to her. But rather than use the word 'cream' if describing, say, an item of clothing I came up with loads of alternatives: biscuit, sand, nearly-white, vellum, parsnip etc etc etc so that she wouldn't dislike the cream-coloured item I was describing. Years later I admitted that I'd been avoiding using the word cream and we had a good laugh about it. She loves talking about colour even now, aged 45, although she's never seen it. Still hates cream though. 😄

BlueBelle Tue 23-Jan-24 15:24:30

When my son was young he couldn’t bear lamb but I used to buy the cheap cut of lamb and he d always say ‘is this lamb mum’ and I would say no it’s beef or pork or whatever I could think of quickly and he never battered an eye lid , ate it and enjoyed it, when I admitted it to him as an adult he laughed so much and told me it was child abuse.

tanith Tue 23-Jan-24 15:26:11

V3ra yes I can relate to that 🤣

Germanshepherdsmum Tue 23-Jan-24 15:28:23

I guess it’s why I had some big clients who stayed with me for many years. Trust is vital to the relationship.

Salti Tue 23-Jan-24 15:34:52

I once invited a family round for a barbecue. I checked with the mother that there would be no problems with what I planned to serve. Her only comment was if my daughter asks tell her the garlic bread is herb bread as she thinks she doesn't like garlic but loves it if it's called herb bread.

Luckygirl3 Tue 23-Jan-24 15:34:58

When we were poor I used to buy rabbit and made stews from it. I used to tell the children it was poultry! Then they would trot off and feed their pet rabbit!!

Callistemon21 Tue 23-Jan-24 15:42:13

BlueBelle

When my son was young he couldn’t bear lamb but I used to buy the cheap cut of lamb and he d always say ‘is this lamb mum’ and I would say no it’s beef or pork or whatever I could think of quickly and he never battered an eye lid , ate it and enjoyed it, when I admitted it to him as an adult he laughed so much and told me it was child abuse.

DS was very fussy about what meats he would eat when he was very young, but he did like turkey.

He'd ask "Is this turkey, Mummy?" and I'd say "Yes" whatever it was and he'd eat up happily and say "I like this turkey".

Now one meat he really dislikes as an adult is turkey!

Sago Tue 23-Jan-24 15:50:37

My late mother (narcissist) would come and stay, she had to have Co op 99 tea, Nescafé Gold blend coffee and M&S almond biscuits, she would fly into a rage if I didn’t have these in for her stays, of course she never thought of bringing her own.
The M&S biscuits I provided but out of mischief I always substituted the coffe and tea for cheaper brands, she never knew.

Callistemon21 Tue 23-Jan-24 15:54:11

I'd know if you changed my coffee Sago. I'm not fussy, no posh coffee machine, but just one particular make.
Don't even think about it wink