Be honest, do you lie about your children's age to save money?

[TheCatSitterDM]

I'm fully expected to get roasted and called all sorts of names but who here tells little white lies about their children's age to save money?

My DS was quite short, so I got away with him being 4 (and therefore free) on the bus until he was nearly 7 and it became obvious he was older after a growth spirt.

And this half term, I said my DD was 3 (not 4) to save money on her admission to swimming.

YABU - You're alway honest about your children's age
YANBU - You tell the occasion fib to save some £ here and there

I have very tall children. I have always had to carry scans of their birth certificates or passports on my phone to prove that they are young enough to qualify for children's rates. Threads like this show me why, because apparently everyone else is lying through their teeth.

I'm not a thief, so no I never lied to scam someone.

I don't. I'm always quite impressed when people say that they do because I imagine my DC loudly claiming that no, they are 3 or 4 or whatever.

No, I don't. For a start I am in a regulated profession and being caught out on something like that would be detrimental. I'm not going to risk that to save £2 on a cinema ticket.

Secondly I have a friend who does it, and I view her differently now and try not to spend too much time with her. If she will cheat an honest business out of a few quid then she'll cheat me.

I am unashamedly happy my DC's were both short.
I guess it swings and roundabouts because I'll have to wait ages to ride the good rides with them at Alton Towers

Yeah I do. Unfortunately one of mine is very tall so didn’t last long! 😂 Great now though as he gets away with watching 18s at the cinema with me when he’s 15.

No, and I applaud all the places who ask for proof of age to offer the young child discount/ rate.

You are just helping to put the prices up for everyone else.

Mine couldn't get away with it, our local cinemas ask for proof of age for 15 and 18 movies!

It is made very clear when you book the tickets, but they still do.

My dc were always very small for their age I could have gotten away with it without a doubt . But no I didn’t and still don’t because I’m a big believer in karma and from a financial perspective I have never been that hard up and desperate to save.

Yes I imagine that would be embarrassing 😳 My DCs live in their own world tbf I can't imagine them paying any attention to my conversations with the cashiers theyre always too excited to do what activity we are doing

Yes I did used to when it was free for under 3's! Now I could not do it as she would tell them her age.

I never did. I don’t have a moral obligation to it but I get the bus and don’t think I have ever gone anywhere we could do this to save money.

Absolutely not because I’m not a thief.

And people who do this put the general prices up for everyone else.

You might think it’s sanctimonious or po-faced or whatever but it’s as much dishonesty as walking out of Tesco with shoplifted goods, however you choose to frame it.

Not swings and roundabouts as this is nothing to do with defrauding people of money that you owe. If you don’t pay it then don’t go there. Just reminds me of those who say that shoplifting here and there is not big deal because ‘companies are big’. Price escalations for honest people result from those people lacking integrity. And I’ll wait now for the inevitable “It’s only a quid here and there, stop being miserable, it really doesn’t have an impact…” Because it’s easier to believe that than to recognise that you’re contributing to higher prices and a society where people who break the rules in one place will break the rules in another.

Never did this - it's stealing.

I remember pretending to be a child fare on the bus that I was taking to get to a nightclub where I then pretended to be 18!

My sister did this at National Park event a few years ago. Her child was seriously injured there and had to have emergency first aid. My sister kicked off about the injury until she had to supply her child’s DOB for the accident report and subsequent ambulance trip - she couldn’t lie about that. She had to sheepishly admit she had lied when she couldn’t produce a child ticket which didn’t go down very well with the event organisers. Don’t lie - it’s not worth it.

No such thing as a white lie. Especially when your kicks can hear you being deceitful.

Nope. Never done.

We never really had to. The only place we could have really was soft play, and lying to save £2.5 seemed a bit ridiculous. Plus our kids love the place so we don't want it to close because no one pays!

We were tempted a couple of times for expensive parks (£30+), when we new our kids weren't going to use the facilities provided by the tickets (e.g. They're scared of fast rides so only go to the "baby stuff" anyway), but we never did in case they asked the kids themselves.

Queuing for the London eye and the lady selling tickets told my 4 year old son to pretend he was 3 . He gave her a lecture about theft. She said it was ok she had agreed to it. He asked her if she owned the company and why she thought it was ok to give away other people’s money. I should have realised he had Asperger’s right there.

No. I don’t like lying to financially gain at someone else’s expense. My child is also tall, so I am usually quite concerned that people will accuse me of being a liar to get the cheap tickets.

No. Though dd does have arfid and so we did go through a brief stint of fudging her age to order from the children’s menu and then ordering a fancy mocktail or something to make up the cost. Then we realized that most restaurants don’t care if we just are honest about what we need and then she can get a proper portion of a safe food.

Yep
though I have had to stop booking my DS22 in to premier inn as a child now he has a beard.

I’m the world’s worst liar, so no. My guilty face and the anxiety it would cause me wouldn’t be worth the money saved.