It’s Poetry Friday!
Buffy Silverman
is celebrating her newest picture book,
and she’s got the round up of poetry goodness!
We lie to children all the time! Santa, The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny.
Did you hear these as a kid?
“If you keep making that face, it’ll freeze that way.”
“We found you under a cabbage leaf.”
“If you drink coffee, it’ll stunt your growth.”
“If you go to sleep with wet hair, you’ll catch pneumonia.”
It was my turn to offer the Nevermores a poetry prompt, so I challenged us to write poems about a lie to children.
Image & poem © 2023 Patricia J. Franz
Lies My Mother Told Me
Patricia Franz is a kidlit writer and published poet. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
This one has legs!
K
This poem is a hoot Patricia! Thanks for sharing the smile. Happy Poetry Friday!
Patricia, this poem is so much fun to read. Perhaps all Moms have superpowers that at the time we do not understand. Your doodle is a great prompt for your poem.
Ha! This made me laugh and took me way-back. How many years did I believe that my mother had eyes hidden in her poufy hair?
Wonderful!
Love it🥰If you swallow a watermelon seed, it will grow in your stomach!😂
Hahaha. Funny! I actually have a picture book manuscript that made the rounds about all the lies we adults tell kids. It was funny, but the couple of editors who liked it said they didn’t think parents would buy it for their kids. Ah well.
Wonderful, light and whimsical and perfect rhyme!
Your closing lines are so wonderfully apt, Patricia. Your poem is a delight. My four year old grand-daughter is currently in this drawing phase where particular feature come and go with successive drawings. I am also reminded of a line from a Jimmy Buffett song- ‘We are the people, our parents warned us about.’
Love your poem, Patricia, and the drawing is perfect. Thanks for including both here.
Wonderful rhyme, Patricia, and now I wonder how many remember that lie & early on, believe it!
As a teacher, I had a mostly functional pair of eyes on the back of my head, or so my students thought. I actually just knew them well and used all my others senses to my best advantage!
Adorable poem, Patricia! You reminded me how my dad would tell me, “Eat your vegetables! They’ll put hair on your chest!” Since that time, I have cut all vegetables from my diet.
LOL. Fabulously fun, Patricia!!! You are so right about all those lies.
I think my sons thought I have four eyes! Funny, Patricia, and it got to thinking about lies my parents told but mostly it came in the form of not answering my questions about certain things.
Thank you for the challenge! I think I see a possible poem in my novel in verse about a lie the mom to the protagonist. I love the last stanza
What a great prompt and what a fun poem you created from it! You’ve got me trying to remember what “lies” I was told. I love your picture, too!
Ha! Perfect poem and picture to illustrate that mom superpower, Patricia. 🙂
Very cute, Patricia! I especially like the last stanza.
Oh, Patricia, what a clever and fun poem on the lie of “my mom has eyes behind her head.” I love all the fun rhyming and rhythm. It’s a great children’s poem. Will the Nevermores write enough for a small children’s collection?
Gave me a smile because when I was little, I believed those lies. I think I may have told a few of them to my sons too! : )
Patricia, what a great idea for a prompt. Your poem is so much fun; I love it! Your rhythm and rhymes are great. I remember a lot of those lies. I might have told 1 or 2 lies to our girls, but not as many as I was told. Did you ever hear: if you go out with wet hair, you’ll catch a cold?
My mother didn’t have eyes in the back of her head, but I did. On the days after Halloween, I only allowed my children to eat a couple pieces of candy a day. I didn’t want them to end up with all the cavities I had as a child. (My mother had given my sister and I sugary Kool-Aid, soda, and I remember some kind of sugary punch that was supposed to be juice in addition to lots of candy!) One day the girls were eating their candy in the kitchen. Later I noticed candy wrappers in the bathroom garbage. I said to my oldest, “Hand over the candy you have stashed away.” She denied it but she did give me the candy. Then, I said, “Now, give me the rest of it.” She asked me how I knew about the hidden candy. I explained the eyes behind the head lie, but she didn’t believe it. I told her about the evidence in the bathroom. Love your poem and drawing. Thank you for the fun. 🙂