"pretty girls get to do things ugly girls don't."

Is what I over heard a mom say to her elementary school aged daughter in the market parking lot. My initial reaction was to laugh, because let's face it. It's true. However, the same said mom also proceeded to tell her daughter that being pretty wasn't enough and that she would also have to be smart as well. 

"But you have to be smart too, because no one likes a pretty dumb girl." 

WRONG! EVERYONE LIKES A PRETTY DUMB GIRL! they just don't like ugly, dumb girls. 

So as I quietly loaded my groceries (btw, it just took me 3 attempts to spell that word...haha..mommy brain...11 months after giving birth.....cupcake cupcake...lalalalala) 

So as I quietly loaded my g r o c e r ies in the car, i couldn't decided whether that mother was doing her daughter a favor by exposing her to the harsh realities of the world at the tender age of 7 or if she was contributing to the growing epidemic of bitter, jaded, low self esteem harboring women. Is it better to live in LalA land where music plays whenever you take a crap and everything is made of sprinkles and glitter? Would this little girl grow up always trying to be smart, and pretty, and talented, and eventually end up being committed?.....or would she always feel like she was falling short of her mother's "wise" words and end up drunk and bleary eyed looking for a condom dispensing machine? Anyways, as my mind started to wander I thought of other little "lies" I've actually heard parents tell their children. 

"Wine is good for you. It's good for your heart." -a mother said to her daughter in the wine/beer aisle at the market. (i know this one is kinda true..but still the kid was like 5 yrs. old)

"My mom said I'm allergic to candy" -said a little boy to me at church when I offered him some.

"We have to wait so the magic will be there" -said a mom at my gymboree class to her daughter who was being impatient about her music class starting. 

"if you sleep next to the wall, your face is going to get paralyzed because the wall is cold." -says my mom to me because our bed is pushed up against the wall.

YAY PARENTS! PARENTING OF THE YEAR AWARDS FOR EVERYONE!

-little asian girl