Monday 10 January 2011

On tact and diplomacy, and the learning of...

We all tell them, don't we? Those little white lies. 'Gosh, what a beautiful baby!' 'Wow, those shoes are amazing!' 'Oh, I love it! I always wanted a commemorative mug with the latest Royal couple on it!

But at what point does it kick in, that little white lie filter? I mean, I know that for some people (myself included on occasion, I'm ashamed to say) it fails from time to time. (Although I'm not so sure if my personal filter fails or if I just get pissed off with talking the party line - but that's another story). I'm asking because I had concrete proof this weekend that my older son's white lie filter is not yet in operation.

It was Boy #2's birthday, and some friends came over to help celebrate it. I had only issued a last minute invitation due to the fact that we and they just got back from holiday, so I was very impressed when they turned up with a present for the Birthday Boy.

Boy #1, however, was less impressed when the wrapping paper had been torn off by his excited younger brother. He looked at the box of Junior Scrabble (a great present, in my humble opinion), and said "Oh, we've got that already. And we don't play it, anyway..."

Tactless and an admission that we don't play cerebral, improving games. Perfect.

Beam me up, Scotty...




13 comments:

  1. Brilliant! Made me giggle. Well they should have stuck a gift receipt on it so he could change it if he needed to.

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  2. I'm impressed with the double tactlessness: conveying in one round thought both that
    a) he already has it
    b) even if he didn't it was a bad choice of present anyway.
    I hope you gave him a compliment once the bad gift-givers had left.

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  3. I usually don't get embarrassed if someone gives one of my kids a crap gift, but Scrabble?! You're right - double embarrassment. (HOw many points would that be BTW?)

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  4. Could be much worst. My eldest's choice of things to shout at a slimming world meeting was "Hello Fatties"!

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  5. An excellent double whammy!

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  6. I gave my daughter Junior Scrabble for Christmas. She reacted with the same enthusiasm!

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  7. It can only get worse!! I'm dreading the 'tactless' years when they speak out loud about strangers and say something very embarrasing (but very true!)

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  8. It is for this reason that I no longer let my children open gifts in front of the gift givers...

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  9. Oh dear....

    Still at least you could say he's honest!

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  10. What's that expression? "From the mouths of babes..."?

    Priceless.

    LCM x

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  11. ouch, that's what my mother calls 'wiping the floor with soemone'! Albeit unintentionally! Did you manage to keep a straight face under yr blushes?!

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  12. EK - good idea although not sure I would want to manage that conversation in Russian...

    Mwa, well, not sure it was a 'compliment'. More a little bit of instruction!

    EPM, well of course that would depend where on the board it was.

    Ellen - OK, you win!

    Iota, I clearly have trained him well.

    RS - this weekend, it's Junior Scrabble time. Whether he likes it or not.

    Paula - yes - I've made much of my blog out of those situations.

    HOM, excellent advice, I'll make sure to do that in future.

    NVG, every cloud, I suppose!

    LCM, or 7 year olds. Yes...

    Paradise; well no - but then neither did the mum who bought it, so I hope I'm excused.

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  13. Flea and her best friend once had a lengthy conversation at the friend's party about "Which do you think is the most boring present?"

    Went down well.

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