Over three quarters of mums admitted telling little white lies to their children
"Are we nearly there yet?" "Does Santa exist?" "Why can't I have any sweets?"
Any mum will know that kids love to ask questions, and sometimes, the only way to quieten them down is to be, er, economical with the truth.
A new survey has found that mums resort to telling little fibs to their kids more often than you might have thought - the average number of lies told per year came in at 255, which is almost five lies a week.
1500 mums were surveyed as past of the research, commissioned by flower company Interflora. 60% said the lies were a way of preventing tantrums, while encouraging an early bedtime or limiting TV time were also popular reasons for telling porkies.
Some of the lies mums admitted to telling were impressive in their inventiveness. Eating apples apparently makes apple trees grow in the tummy, while eating broccoli will no doubt appeal to any Marvel-mad kids if you tell them it'll turn you into the Incredible Hulk.
But the top ten lies were ones we've probably all said at some point or another - how many do you recognise?
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Carrots make you see in the dark (59%)
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We’re almost there (55%)
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If you don’t come now, I’ll leave you here (52%)
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If you sit too close to the TV your eyes will go square (49%)
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The chocolate has all gone (49%)
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It’s bedtime - 30 minutes earlier than usual (48.5%)
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It won’t hurt, I promise (46%)
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If you keep pulling that face when the wind blows it will stay that way (44%)
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Eating crusts will make your hair curly (35%)
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There are no replacement batteries for that toy (32%)
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