My Expertise.

I am not an expert in anything, I would love to be able to say I am but sadly it would be a lie.
I would love to be an expert at cooking a certain dish but my cooking skils are less than severely limited. Or perhaps an expert in a subject that would bring the pennies rolling in or improve my life and others but no if I am an expert in anything it would be:

* Procrastination.

* Lazyness.

* Being Ill.

* Self Pity.

Not exactly skills to be proud of but skills I use on a daily if not hourly basis.

Maybe (procrastination) one day I'll become an expert in a useful field but then again would it be worth the effort? (lazyness).
I'm too tired all the time to bother (illness) and I'd more than likely fail (self pity).

See what I mean?

10 Reasons My Life Is Better Than A decade Ago.

This is a list of ten things / ways my life is better now than it was a decade ago.
I could have listed so many more than this it's really surprising to me just how much better my life is now compared to just a decade ago.
This is one fail - safe way to cheer yourself up when feeling down.

01) Spud.

A decade ago I still thought the hospital was correct when they said I would never be able to conceive.
My life was so empty before I had my son only I never felt the loss or the fact that my life was half lived.
He makes everything better and I'm a better person for him being in my life.

(note I said better not perfect, patient or less moany).

02) Robin.

He is more than a partner he is also a friend, supporter, cheerleader, chauffeur,
protector and daddy to my son. I can trust and rely on him implicitly and I know for certain he'd never knowingly hurt me.

(although his lack of common sense is at times infuriating).

03) My Work Life.

Ten years ago I was working in an awful social club filled with literally the dregs of society. I had recently been divorced and thought little of myself. It was not a good or healthy time for me and is probably the one time since my schooldays that had nothing at all on the good side.
Now I don't go out to work, I am a stay at home mum and while there is no pay, endless constant frustrations and non stop noise I am lucky to be able to do it.

04) My Weight.04) My Weight.

A decade ago I was chubby to say the least (although healthier than now). I couldn't look at myself from the side, it would make me cringe and shudder in disgust.
Exercise was not a solution for someone inherently lazy and I ate, a lot.
Now I'm around three or four stone lighter and want to put on a stone.
Some people are never satisfied.

05) Being Online.

I wasn't online ten years ago and never had been.
Even if social networking, blogging and web 2.0 did not exist back then there was still much online that I would have missed. Not least of all the company and entertainment factors.

06) Financial.

I may not be in a better situation financially at this time but things like day to day struggles and dealing with debt are much easier when there's two of you.

07) My Relationship With Mum.

I think my relationship is much stronger now than it was a decade ago. It could be down to me maturing (or my mum immaturing (I know that's not a word but it should be)). We seem to have more in common now possibly because we have had some similar experiences in the past decade or maybe I've just become better at caring about other people and their lives. Either way I love the fact I have such a good relationship with my mum.

08) TV Shows.

TV shows are much better now than they were on UK TV. I love shows such as CSI, Law And Order, Special Victims and of course House M.D. many weeks they are the only shows I watch. Many weeks they're the only thing on worth watching.

09) Knowing What I Want In Life.

I didn't really know a decade ago what I wanted out of life it has only been since 2003 that I finally started to realise what it is I want in life.
I know what I want now and hopefully I will be able to attain some of them like taking a writing course, further education and the kind of job I hope to work at.

10) My Home.

Ten years ago I could only dream of having a house to live in instead of a flat or maisonette as my situation (no children) and finances prohibited that from happening. Now I have a two bed mid terrace house and a son and partner to share it with.

My life is so much better now, it amazes me. I could never have seen any of it coming. I'm grateful for it every day.

My Bad Habits.

Bad Habits
20 November 2007, 17:00:31 | JM
We all have them – the little things we know we should not do but often do unconsciously. Sometimes they are things we should do but don’t, like not flossing every time we brush our teeth.

I am talking about bad habits.



What are your bad habits?

I have many bad habits that live alongside my bad character traits, we all do. Life gives us those habits and whether they are good or bad they are part of what makes us the person we are.

The bad habits of mine that I'm willing to admit to are:

* Pulling the seal off the milk bottle and dumping it in the fridge instead of the
bin.
* Biting my nails when I'm stressed or unhappy.
* Making my son get me something instead of getting off my bum and getting it
myself.
* Cocooning myself in the duvet no matter how cold hubby is.
* Turning down the pages of the book I'm reading instead of using a bookmark.
* Wearing socks in bed, sometimes the same pair I wore that day.
* Holding grudges forever.
* Wishing those that did me wrong were afflicted with "what goes around, comes
around".

I have lots more and I mean lots but I want you to think I'm a better, nicer person than I am so I'm not going to list them. All you need to know is that I have some good and bad points, no worse than anyone elses.

So there!

10,000 thanks

It seems like everything always changes with money.
How much you have or lack seems to change so much in life.
And if your circumstances change dramatically within your lifetime, well that just makes things even more confusing.

If you had $10,000 that you had to give away, who would you give it to? (And no cheating by giving it to your spouse because that is too easy of a choice and it stays in your household.)

This is a bit of a no-brainer for me because if I could keep all the money, I'd give half to my mum. So being unable to keep the money or share it with a spouse I'd give it all to my mum.

There would be one condition or proviso on how she spends the money My mum would be free to spend or save the money exactly as she wished as long as it is not spent on myself or my spouse. If I could afford to give my mother £10,000 then I obviously do not need financial help or gifts as I would have the funds to do this for myself.

If I was paying my mother for all her help, support, advice and love that she has given me unstintingly through the years even when I made it so difficult then £10,000 just wouldn't even repay a years worth of the support my mother has given me.

I was not an easy child or teen to love, my behaviour and attitude alone are prickly at best but she never gave up on me. Not once.
I never realised or appreciated it until I entered my thirties but as a mother now myself I can appreciate and see the self sacrifices and asisstance she gave without any thought or gain for herself.

My mother has given me so much over the years, things I appreciate now more than even she realises.
She gave me intelligence (lord knows it didn't come from my father), a love of reading, money, even if it meant she struggled financially and the parenting skills I sometimes possess.
She has always been supportive too even when she didn't agree with my decisions (I should listen to her more she is rarely wrong).
Now she is the nanny my son feels a peership with, due to behaviour and humour of the same level (lol mum!).

I'm grateful for having this woman as my mum, I have been lucky.
No amount of money could even begin to repay her for everything she has done for me but this £10,000 would be a fine start.

Why I Blog (albeit badly).

Why do you blog?

You can talk about when you started, where you started, why you started, and for whom you started… (Even if, like me, you got into it by accident.) Make sure you talk about why you are blogging now, though. What made you blog today and why will you blog tomorrow?

Have fun exploring your beginnings and taking a few minutes to write about where you would like to be.

I decided to blog many months ago. It was going to be an online journal type of thing, something my son could look through when he is older and hopefully spark some lovely memories.

This is how I started but the blog soon took on a character of it's own and is now more of a dumping ground for the detritus of my life and anything I enjoy or find interesting.

I now have three blogs and each one is different from the others.

* I have a blog for my creative writing.
* I have a blog for my autobiographical writing and memories.
* I have a blog for my life and thoughts and everything else.

I love blogging and sharing with people, I can communicate so much better with the written word than if I was speaking.
I have found some very good friends through blogging and the majority of the blogging community are very friendly and supportive.
I can interact with people so easily through blogs and have some I read daily written by people I empathise with and consider friends albeit virtual ones.

In the future I expect I'll still be blogging even if I have no readers as it is the whole writing process I enjoy and readership although wonderful to have is an added bonus to me not the raison d'etre.

I don't understand why more people don't blog because it is such a fun, satisfying thing to do.
I think a lot of bloggers give up once they realise that only very few people make oodles of money for their blogging. They get disheartened and just fade away which is a shame because many blogs that were fun and interesting to read have fallen by the wayside.

I encourage everyone to have their own blog, there are so many free sites out there that will even do all the hard work for you with regards to layout and all you have to do is the writing.

Blogging is a favourite pastime of mine and could be yours too!

Time WRITE ANYWAY

Quotes about Time


Time is one of those things we pretend we understand but really know nothing about. We measure it, yes, but what are we measuring? Minutes? Seconds? Both are measurements of time, but what is time?


I’m going to put up some quotes about time for you to go through. See what strikes you, what you agree with, what you disagree with… Perhaps even use one of the quotes as the opening line for one of your characters.

See where inspiration takes you.


Andy Warhol: They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

Time does change things, society norms is an example of this. Single parents were unheard of 50 years ago but are commonplace now but changes such as this have to begin somewhere & that is usually by someone who has had those circumstances thrown onto them & has lived & battled through disapproval & distrust, even dislike & disgust to be accepted.
As we live & adapt to the world & it's values around us so does how the world sees us adapt, that is the way we change & in time those brave pioneers of change sadly become forgotten but their legacy lives on.


Annie Dillard: How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

Life consists of a series of days, it is how we spend those days that makes our lives. If our days are spent in meanness & cynicism then our lives will have been spent in the same way. If we look upon every day as a brand new adventure, we can live a life full of wonder & fun. Plus a few aches, pains & accidents.


Benjamin Franklin: Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that the stuff life is made of.

Time passes so quickly & once gone can never return just ask any mother & she will tell you how time passes so fast. One minute your child is a baby needing everything done for him & the next minute (or so it seems) a person in their own right.
If we spend our days wishing for this thing & that thing then we are wasting the time we could have spent on enriching our lives & those of others.


C. S. Lewis: The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.

Time cannot stand still for any of us no matter who we are. All the potions & creams on the market to "slow down time" will never be a complete success. Time is in perpetual motion, forever moving onward & we cannot stop this. We can try to hold back the effects of the passing years but not the years themselves.
A woman in her sixties is a woman in her sixties no matter if she looks forty or fifty years old she will still have been alive for sixty plus years.


Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.
played by Patrick Stewart, from the film “Star Trek: Generations”

We all need to enjoy life as it is a once in a lifetime thing, once gone there is no re-run or replay. We should enjoy the day, every day & make the most of every opportunity given. We may be able to leave behind an important piece of work or an invention but if we had never enjoyed life & only worked on this one thing then it will have been a life half lived.


Colette: Time spent with cats is never wasted.

We should spend time with the people & the things we love & enjoy. If you love cats or reading or something like swimming then time spent doing these things is an enrichment of your life & happyness. Never a waste.


Ecclesiastes: For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.

To live a full life it needs to be a life with many parts & no, not all of them will be fun or even pleasant. There will be times when we do one particular thing but also another when we do the complete opposite such as planting crops & then reaping the harvest. There are also things we should never stop doing & do them throughout our lives such as learning something new.

Life is here. It is up to us what we make of it.

I thought being a grown up meant

Just spend five minutes writing about what your younger self thought being an adult would be like.
What sorts of freedoms did you think awaited you when you were finally all grown up?

I thought being a grown up meant the freedom to do as I wanted with no limits, my own life to be lived how I choose & where I choose & with fun all along the way.

When I was a teenager I could not wait to reach the magical age of 18. I wanted to be classed as a grown up, to be taken seriously & to embark on a proper, adult life with all I thought that entailed.

I thought being an adult would magically open all kinds of doors & bring forth amazing opportunities that mystically only appear once you become an adult.
I imagined myself being able to do & say anything I wanted with no constraints.

I thought that all my doubts & insecurities would magically disappear once I became an adult unfortunately I hadn't considered the effects of bills, financial liability, resposibility & the higher cost of everything from prescriptions to education.
These constraints are what hampers any personal freedom we may have as adults, we have to consider the effect our actions & words will have on others & ourselves. These are what makes an adult a "grown up" & although unrealised as teens the majority of us rise up to these responsabilities & survive.

Being free is priceless

Write Anyway

What does freedom mean to you?
Think of a time when you felt restricted.
How old were you?
What were you stopped from doing?
Did you manage to overcome the opposition?
If so, how did you reach your goal?
If not, what did you try?
Do you have a different perspective on the situation now?

Let me feel your frustration.

My first husband was a Moroccan & I was lucky enough to spend some time living in Morocco, not in one of the tourist traps but in the real Morocco where I was subject to the same religious & social codes that all the women lived by.
These "rules" were not as strict or severe as they would be for a born Moroccan woman (I was after all British & therefore classed differently), I could do many things that a Moroccan woman / wife could never do & many of the restrictions were relaxed in my case.
I know these things would have been unthought of freedoms for Moroccan women but to me they didn't go far enough, I had been raised in the west & had western ideas & was used to the freedoms women have living in the west.

I had to think before I did anything as to how it could be construed, my husband & his family were lovely, caring people & I did not want to bring any embarassment or shame onto them.

Clothing was an area where I was restricted, not only by what clothing was available in the shops & souks but also by what was considered appropriate & what would upset / enrage others in the community, a knee length skirt & a spaghetti strap top were out for example but long, floaty tops & anything that covered the skin was fine.

Food was another area, I did not have the freedom to eat what I chose, when I chose as in a muslim country bacon sandwiches for example are off every menu.
Moroccans have cutlery but most meals are eaten with the hands so I felt that I could not use a knife & fork but had to eat in the traditional, expected way.

You had to be careful how you spoke of the King of Morocco, people had been thrown in prison just for disagreeing with his policies whilst I was used to being able to state my opinion even if it did usually disagree with Major or Blair for example. Learning to limit or curb my tongue was a major loss of freedom for me, the loss of freedom to have & express my own opinions, thoughts & points of view.

Even something as basic as the weekly shop was bound by rules, I could not go out unless accompanied & not only for my safety but also because it was expected. Women are rarely seen outside alone it is somehow dishonourable to the family.

Women are limited in what they can & can't do in a myriad of ways, there are rules & social mores to conform to in everything from cooking & cleaning to marriage, mothering & recreation to how one lives her life both in the privacy of her own home & in public & of course religion.
The limitations I had while living in Morocco were only small; no skimpy tops, no going out unless accompanied, eating meals Moroccan style & no smoking in public but I found them difficult as I was accustomed to living my life relatively unhindered & on a more or less equal basis to men, knowing that my life was not worth less just because I was female. It was the little things, being unable to just browse the market on my own or talk to people of either sex of always having to think how will me saying such & such affect my family, is it acceptable?

I am glad I had the opportunity to experience this different way of life, the life in another country & religion it taught me a lot about myself, life in general & taught me what I needed to be happy namely the freedom to be, to make mistakes, to live & to love unhindered by societies expectations or limits.
I learnt that I need to be "me" not a me bound with expectations & rules where there are penalties imposed for having a different opinion

I'm glad & thankfull to have grown up in a country where I have freedom of choice in the clothing I wear, the religion I follow, the lifestyle I choose & the freedom to express my opinion no matter who it disagrees with.

Freedom is a priceless gift & one we should all treasure.

Wishing for reality.

When I was a teenager my one, deeply longed for desire or wish was to become a mother with a gorgeous son. I had no wishes for riches, material posessions or lifestyle all I wanted was to be a mum. This was a wish I kept to myself, I just couldn't see it ever happening, for me to have a baby would mean someone loving & liking me enough to marry me (my wish never included single parenting) & I had such a low opinion of myself I just couldn't see it ever happening so this wish I buried deep & pretended that I had next to no interest in motherhood ever.

In my early twenties I was told by the hospital that I would never become pregnant either naturally or by assissted methods like IVF, that I was basically infertile. This was a big blow as you may imagine but I just filed it away deep inside, hidden from everyone & life went on.

When I was 30, I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't believe my luck, it was just too good to be true & when the doctor told me my first words were "is the pregnancy ectopic?" I couldn't imagine this being true I was so sure the doctor was wrong & it was in fact a tumour or that I would miscarry. I just knew there was no real possibility of this being true for me, I'd wanted & wished for this for so long how could it possible be true?

But it was

I became a mum to a gorgeous little boy & on top of that miracle I didn't even feel any pain when I had my son nor afterwards (the joy of an emergency c-section). I didn't even need an aspirin!

My wishes now don't involve myself I want everything for my son. I want him to be happy & enjoy his life. Whatever he wishes for I wish for it too, more than anything in the world. He is my wish come true, it does happy so why not to him also?

I cannot say that motherhood has turned out to be like the visions I had in my dreams specially since they included a well-behaved little boy, no sleepless nights, a distinct lack of dirty nappies & no food refusals (my wish also included non noisy toys ha ha ha) but on the whole it has not only met but exceeded all my wishes.

Wishes can & do come true, I'm proof of this as is this photo of my little miracle.

Unrequited Love

Today I want you to write about your unrequited love. You may have a few, but pick out one and go with it.

How did it happen? Did your love slowly grow, or did it hit you all of the sudden? What was s/he like? What made you fall so hard? Was s/he with someone else? Were you mortified if you did anything “stupid” around him/her?


Unrequited love is such a hard thing to deal with, it can strike at any age, without warning & is I'd guess pretty soul destroying. All those thoughts running around your head; what is he doing right now? Who is he with? What is wrong with me? Why doesn't he like me back?
I'm thankfull I never really went through this.

The nearest I ever came to it was my best friend in college, I'll call him Chris because that's not his name. He liked me as much as I liked him but being friends was too important to both of us to take the risk of actually getting together & it all going wrong.
He was always there for me with advice, care & attention, honesty & friendship, I never realised until later when different directions in life made the friendship slowly wither through lack of contact just how rare & wonderful his friendship was.

I loved "Chris" as a friend & as a person just as he did me but timing was never my forte & I guess some things just aren't meant to work out.
We always thought we would end up together in time but growing up, university & life got in the way of those plans but I will never stop thinking of him with a smile, maybe even a wistful smile occasionally.

He was the first true friend I had & I will always be grateful to him for that even though we lost touch many years ago I still think of him now as a friend.

Write Anyway - Self-respect.

Self-respect.

I’d like you to write about self-respect. What does it mean to you? Is it important to you? Do you respect yourself? Do you think other people respect themselves?

Tell me about what self-respect means to you and whether or not you respect yourself.


I could not be happy if I didn't have respect for myself, other peoples respect (or not) for me takes second place to my own feelings of self-respect.
I live by what I think is right, hopefully without causing anyone else pain or hurt but I have to be happy that I have lived & made decisions according to my thoughts & opinions without interfering in my feelings of self worth.

Self-respect to me, covers my ability to make decisions, forgive others & my actions, thoughts & opinions. If I do not trust me to make the right decisions for me how can I trust myself to think about what is right for others.

I respect myself for making the decisions that are right for me at the time. Many times I could have taken the easier path but did not because my self-respect would not let me belittle myself. I have to act & stand up for what I believe in even though others may have opposing views I will stand up for what I believe is right.
How could I live with myself otherwise?

Other people may or may not respect you, it is how you feel about yourself that is important. As long as I can look at myself & feel happy sure in the knowledge that I am a person worth knowing, in other words as long as my self-respect & self-worth is intact then I am happy with myself.

Write Anyway - Respect.

Who do you respect? Take some time to describe this person. Then go on to describe why she or he is respectable. What did this person do to earn your respect personally? What is your relationship with this person? Is this the first person you ever respected? Did you instantly respect this person or learn to over time?

Tell me about it.


There are very few people I truly respect, don't get me wrong I treat everyone with respect where possible but that's different to truly respecting someone.

The one person I respect 100% is someone who has always been there for me through good times & bad, no matter how high the highs or how low the lows. She has what I consider to be fair, just & decent morals, she treats everyone with courtesy & respect & will always put herself in someone else's shoes before forming an opinion.
There is no problem or difficulty that this woman cannot handle & she is strong & independent.
She has taught me so much over the years & has never steered me wrong. I can rely on her to always do & say what is best for me, she never thinks of herself & the best of all she is fun & intelligent.

I haven't always respected this person as she deserves, I've treated her pretty shabbily at times in my life but her support for me has never wavered & I honestly don't know how she did it.

I respect my mum, I'm truly lucky to have such an amazing role model in my life.
If I manage to be half the woman she is I will be a truly inspirational woman.

Forgiveness & Forgiving

Forgiving someone who has wronged me in some way is not something I can do nor is it something I want to do.

Forgiving someone who wrongs you is no different to giving them a licence to continue with what they were doing safe in the knowledge that there will be no consequences you may as well tattoo the word "victim" on your forehead in indelible ink.

Everything we do or say in life should have consequences & forgiveness just means that the "wrongdoer" can do whatever they want without having to worry. I know the Jesus turned the other cheek & forgave those who wronged him but look what happened to him!

I will never forgive someone for hurting me or letting me down. If someone can do something that needs forgiveness then where is the respect or friendship towards myself? I obviously wasn't considered & neither were my feelings, that is not the sort of person I want in my life & to forgive them would be me saying that I think so little of myself that you can hurt me or let me down & it's ok. Well, it's not ok & you're gone from my life with no regrets on my part.

There were people in my life that did something I could not forgive & those people are now gone from my life, although still as large as life in my memory. I cannot forgive & most definately will not forget. I lose respect for people that have done me wrong & once the respect & friendly feelings have gone why should I forgive them just so they can feel good about themselves? Forgiving them won't make me feel better or change what occurred & it wont change the character flaw they have that enabled them to do whatever it was they did. I much rather cut them from my life & protect myself from suffering through that hurt again.

Forgiveness is all well & good in theory but I refuse to have people in my life that have done me or my family wrong I just can't risk giving them free reign to hurt me again.

Forgiveness is not in my vocabulary or life but self-protection most definately is.

Write Anyway - Gratitude.

Today I want you to pick one thing you are grateful for. Then write why you are grateful for it. After that, write a little bit about your life/day/whichever if that special element had not come into your life.

I am grateful for my son.

I’m grateful for the one thing I always secretly wanted but never thought would come true. I always pretended that I never wanted children, that I just wasn’t that bothered about the whole experience of motherhood. I didn’t want people’s sympathy, so I acted like I had no interest or feeling in the subject for years.
The day the doctor told me I was pregnant my first thought was that it must be an ectopic pregnancy, I just could not imagine being pregnant & that with my appallingly bad luck, to actually be pregnant means that there must be something wrong somewhere because my luck just couldn’t be that good, my dream surely couldn’t be coming true after all those years.

I changed when I had my son, instead of me being the centre of my universe there was suddenly another person who mattered much more than me, much more. Someone who filled my heart to the very brim & made my whole life suddenly glorious technicolour with tweeting birds, rainbows & adorable little bunnies hopping around.
That state of affairs lasted until the first smelly nappy change & night of broken sleep!

My son has changed me as a person, my hopes & dreams are now centred around my son & I’ve become rather like a mother lion, protecting my son from the realities of life & making sure his childhood will be full of rainbows & joy. He is my first thought when I wake & my last at night & even after a day of toddler tantrums & phrases such as “don’t like you mummy” I’m still truly blessed because with the headaches & exhaustion come so much love, fun & happiness that I truly know there is no better than this.

Write Anyway - Lying.

The truth about lies.


Description of the word "lie" according to the webster-merrium dictionary.

Entry Word: lie
Function: noun

Text: a statement known by its maker to be untrue and made in order to deceive
"he wanted to deny the accusation, but he couldn't tell a lie"

Synonyms include: fabrication, fairy tale, falsehood, falsity, fib, mendacity, prevarication, story, tale, untruth, whopper.


We all lie & have lied throughout our lives for many different reasons, from purely selfish ones such as lying to get out of trouble, so we do not have to do something to unselfish, thoughtful reasons such as avoid hurting someones feelings or to help a child keep his childhood beliefs alive that little bit longer.
Many women will have said that their friends new haircut was lovely or that their new boyfriend sees like a nice guy even while hoping & praying that what we really think doesn't have basis in fact.
Not all lies are in fact bad many are said to "be nice & supportive" or to assuage someones fears & hurts.

As a mother I find myself lying almost daily, lies such as "not having any chocolate or biscuits in the house" or that "it's eight p.m & bedtime" when it's only half past seven.
Then there's the lies all parents tell about the existence of the tooth fairy, the easter bunny & father christmas or telling your child the immunisation won't hurt when we know an injection is most likely going to be painful.
Lying becomes second nature once you're the mother of a toddler or older child & although many lies or fibs are told to gain an easier life or ten minutes peace we also lie to extricate ourselves from conversations & activities we know are not going to be enjoyable.

We lie at work or to our partners so we do not get reprimanded or have an argument. Many of us have bought something & subtracted a couple of pounds from the price so our partners won't complain or said something was fun or accomplished easily just to look good at work.
We spend all morning cleaning & tidying the house then apologise to visitors for the "mess" in the hope that they will think we're wonderful at keeping house & if the telephone rings at an inopportune time we will say a hastily created excuse just to get off the phone.

There are so many lies told & reasons for lying, both good & bad that I believe it is an intrinsic part of life both in the family & in society in general.