Two Truths and a Lie — the Family Dinner Table Version

The mad rush from daycare pickup to bedtime just about does me in some days. Everyone’s “hangry,” thirsty, and tired all at once. So by the time we sit down to actually eat, it’s time to talk about something other than what someone needs.

Enter “Two Truths and a Lie” — the family dinner table version. Also known as “The Game” in my house.

It’s a game I’m sure you’ve played at some point or another, either with a group of daring friends or as a professional icebreaker. I presented it to my kids like this: During our family dinner time, tell everyone two things about your day that really happened, and one thing that’s not true — your “silly.” The rest of us get to guess which is your silly, or the thing that didn’t happen. (I try to avoid the word “lie” in the very black-and-white world my preschoolers currently live in.)

My 4-year-old caught on right away. It took a few weeks of whispering in my 3-year-old’s ear before she figured it out enough to play on her own. Now she regularly talks about climbing on the roof, putting the potty on the roof, or sleeping on the roof. Along with who she played with at school and what she ate for lunch. I’m hoping the roof fascination disappears before it becomes truth.

Little nuggets of my kids’ days will appear during the game. Something they made for that day’s school project. Which teacher was on duty that day. Who was absent because they’re on vacation. Fun things that matter in my kids’ world that I love hearing from their perspective. 

I hope the tidbits about our days help my kids absorb a bit of the world their parents live in that’s outside of our home. Things about our jobs, who we ate lunch with, and how we have frustrating moments too.

In addition to the built-in bonding at our family dinner hour, our game helps teach logic. My oldest is starting to puzzle out the clues his dad and I sprinkle into our three things. That if I say I got stuck in lots of traffic, and he was among the last to be picked up, it’s probably true. He’s also getting pretty good at coming up with a realistic silly thing, and he has outsmarted us all a few times.

Let’s just hope “The Game” isn’t also teaching them how to get good at lying!