liar, liar, pants on fire...by judi sadowsky

this morning i was trying on a dress i was planning to wear to a wedding in a few weeks.
"i hate that" the husband piped up.
"really. i was planning to wear it to tasha's wedding".
"don't" he answered, "it makes you look fat".
wow. i told him i was glad i could always count on him to tell me the truth.
"well, not always" he replied.
"what do you mean"? i asked.
"sometimes you can't take the truth".

i had to give that some thought and i realized he was right. sometimes, like when we are on the way out the door, late for his cousin's bar mitzvah in calabasas, i don't need to hear that the outfit i am wearing makes my butt look big. i can't see my butt, so just let me go off to the valley thinking i look great. or the time i got that really awful haircut that only six months of growing out time could remedy. i didn't want to hear from him that i looked like a poodle in its summer cut. so, as much as i hate to admit it, the husband is right about lying. sometimes you just have to.

that is why i am so upset about a new children's book that is out. written by a plastic surgeon it is called "my pretty mommy". the book is this doctor's attempt to explain plastic surgery to young children. it covers nose jobs, tummy tucks and face lifts. thankfully, i think he draws the line at breast implants. at one point in the book, when the little girl asks her mommy why she had a nose job the mother replies "because i wanted to have a prettier nose". now, the odds are about 50/50 that in ten years or so, little amanda, tiffany, quinn or apple is going to be sprouting a very similar nose to the one her mommy had just lopped off. here is where lying comes in. if vain mommy just told her little darling that she ran into a door or dropped a frying pan on her face, the wee tot could grow up being able to make up her own mind about how she feels about her looks. but, with mommy telling her, practically from birth, that if she has mommy's old nose, it won't pretty enough, what chance does this kid have?

so let's it hear it for liars and leave my butt and little tiffany's nose alone!