Friday 15 October 2010

Matilda moments: telling fibs

Well, dear PB friends, I have survived today! Fridays are always my trickiest day of the week as I have all three pixies with me. I have heard way too much squabbling, pleaded for the hall door to be shut about 50 times and done far too many loads of washing (especially following the “Woops-I-just-spilt-milk-all-over-the-sofa-despite-the-fact-you-had-asked-me-to-drink-it-sitting-at-the-table” moment). Hmm. Anyway, they’re all asleep now. Oh, and for the record, I remembered to deadlock us into the house for most of the day (after this) but Sammy still escaped outside when Joshie left the front door open. Not onto the road, mind. Hmm. Mr PB is still at work. Hmm. I have a glass of red in hand. Here's something a little lighter to end the week.

When I was in Grade Five, we learnt the entertaining poem 'Matilda' by Hilaire Belloc off by heart. I can still recall it verbatim, so burned was it into my memory. It struck me as something I should remember as a salutary life lesson as it involved a naughty girl who told lies. That was foreign territory for me as I was such a goody-two-shoes. My parents insisted on the truth - I remember the one thing my Dad wrote in my autograph book (remember them?) was 'Always tell the truth'.

Here are the first few lines.

Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes;
Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest Youth,
Had kept a Strict Regard for Truth,
Attempted to Believe Matilda:
The effort very nearly killed her.. 


The little minx Matilda

Have a read - what a terrible fate awaited the little liar. No wonder I couldn't forget it.

They adore the story of Pinocchio which is such a visual concept for them. His name is often taken in vain on PB given their father's propensity to tell whoppers or exaggerate at the very least (mainly for their benefit). They are waiting for the day when he won't be able to fit in the door because of his long nose! 
The little rascal himself
So far (and I'm crossing my fingers big time that this continues for a while yet), we haven't had many 'Matilda moments' on PB. In the main, the pixies are truthful, often painfully so ("Daddy, your breath stinks"). They are prone to wild extravagances but I figure that's their vivid imaginations in overdrive which I would really love to encourage. As long as it's not harming anyone and they're just tall stories, I'm content to leave them be and chuckle along with them. I do a mean line in raised eyebrows, I must say.

No doubt you all have experienced some 'Matilda moments' of your own, particularly those with teenagers. Do share - I need to prepare for what lies ahead (sorry for the pun but it's late)!

12 comments:

  1. 'Matilda moments' - I'll enjoy my infancy time with my boy now before the verbal begins!

    A glass of wine sounds great after all the lovelies are in bed... and that door of yours, you need a bell on that thing! :)

    Have a great weekend Jane!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have to say i have 3 out of 4 brutally honest children & i'm very honest with them too - which is tested when they ask such open questions about sex, life, how i feel about different people in our life . . . but i have one who escapes, evades, changes the topic, lies by ommission, has no tells when she does lie & well, she's sneaky. Yes, she's the one who took the soft toys from my parent's place, twice. It's a constant battle, she's 9 & i don't know if she's just messy with our heads. Even as a tiny baby with a twin sister to distract us, she was sneaky. It's part of her charm, she's very hard not to love & my husband do sit back & think "man, she's so clever, if only she'd use it for good not evil". We'll go into her teen years with our eyes very wide open. Love Posie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ah, Jenn, for the moment asking the landlord for a gate is my priority!

    Oh, Posie, that's so interesting to read. I am going to be fascinated to have all those conversations in the years ahead. We've already had questions about death, souls and heaven at age 2 (India). Eeek! Gosh, Miss 9 does sound very sneaky. Seeing all the different personalities evolve, notwithstanding their shared parentage, is quite absorbing, I find. J x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jane, I've just been reading your lovely blog. Glad to hear you are also an end of day wino. I'm with momma j lee for now - Lily too young for whoppers...something to look forward to. What did jump out was your mention of autograph books. Wow, light bulb moment..had one in primary school. I finally achieved my end goal of getting a "famous" persons autograph - non other than iron man, Grant Kenny (who?) whose buff torso appeared on the back of the Nutri-Grain cereal box at the time. It blew my mind :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Paula Oh, yes, I love my wine! Too funny. I don't think I had his autograph but I had Greg Chappell's and Allan Border's and lots of other cricketers (I'm a cricket tragic from way back). I really want to find my autograph book to show the pixies. Hmmm, I might have to have a scout around at my parents'. J x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Because it's always 'happy hour' in a time zone somewhere!

    I just added you to my blogroll so I can easily visit you daily :)

    Have a great weekend,
    XO L

    ReplyDelete
  7. We havent reached that stage yet. I myself went through a phase when I constantly told the most stupid lies when I was about 9 so hopefully karma doesnt revisit me xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Why, thanks, Laura - I'm so honoured to be one of your 'blog girls'! What esteemed company. And thanks to you, I've just found 'Do what you love'. Yippee. Oh, and I'm off to buy some wine...

    Ooh, Simone, I hope not! I also hope the pixies aren't as naughty as Mr PB was, growing up! J x

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think you might need to do a blog post on Mr PB's mischievous childhood!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I once read that lying is a sign of intelligence... my boys aren't that into it yet - I am not sure whether that is good or bad!! A x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jane I have 4 children & for the most part I THINK they are all pretty honest. However my 7yr old son is the king of faking sickies to get a day off school. We right schoolitis on his absentee notes for the teacher!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. That might actually be quite amusing, Emma! I'll put it on the list.

    Oh, Trish, too funny. What do the teachers say? J x

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, you gorgeous soul. You've just made my day! J x

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...