Sometimes, in order to teach or expand on a lesson, I find that I'm inclined to spin a Small Tale.  While technically I guess you could call them LIES, they aren't told with ill intent, so to me they don't seem that BAD.  Sometimes kind of GOOD, really.

Last night before bedtime, we had a long circular discussion about birthdays.  The kids went around and around about why it takes so long to be someone's birthday and why each person's falls where it does in the year.  As far as I could tell, the main point to the discussion was that it was a rip that it would take so long to get to a birthday.  And as bedtime dragged on and on, I heard a Small Tale come spilling out of my mouth.

If you go to sleep earlier, your birthday comes faster.

Sure, not TECHNICALLY true, but in reality it would APPEAR to come more quickly if you slept more.  Right?

Of course, this was nothing compared to the whopper that my dad told Martin last week, about how Johnny Appleseed was his high school classmate and how he had to drop out of school for being a slacker, forced to find work by spreading apple seeds all over the place.

Come to think of it, maybe this isn't a common part of parenting at all.  Perhaps it's just something I learned from the very best.