A perfect life is a perfect lie – the little lies we tell our kids

Brought to you by Sky Atlantic As someone who still devours bread crusts in the hope it'll make her hair curly, I can attest: those little white lies parents tell their children can have a lasting effect. Why do parents tell their offspring something that isn't true? Well, the reasons vary from trying to improve their behaviour ('Santa Clause is watching!) to their diet ('Eat up those carrots, and you'll be able to see in the dark!') to just not having a clue what to say when they ask you those totally awkward questions. The top white lie told to kids has to be about their pets after one dies or has gone missing, when “Your pet has gone to live on a farm in the countryside” is employed. And then there are the common lies ALL parents tell like Father Christmas, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny or replacing a child’s dead pet with an identical looking one! We've compiled a list of the top 20 white lies we tell our kids - do you agree? Father Christmas is watching you We’ll see We’re almost there We’ll come back another time Carrots will make you see in the dark I always know when you’re lying We can come back and buy that toy next time I didn’t bring my purse with me today If you watch the television too much, your eyes will go square If you keep making that face, the wind will change, and it will freeze If you tell lies, your nose will grow If you touch it, it will break They don’t sell replacement batteries for that toy If you swallow chewing gum, it stays in your stomach for seven years There are fairies at the bottom of the garden When the ice cream truck plays that music, it’s run out of ice cream If you leave the house with wet hair, you’ll get sick This is medicine; you wouldn’t like it Father Christmas prefers a beer and crisps to a mince pie and milk Your pet went to live on a farm in the country Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley star in the upcoming series, Big Little Lies – a tale of three mothers whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder. Big Little Lies starts at 9pm on 13 March, exclusively on Sky Atlantic.