My son, like most four year olds, has a big imagination. In his head he plans to visit many countries, can speak many different languages and has over 100 brothers and sisters. But he is also rooted in an unshakeable reality that whatever he sees has to exist or be happening somewhere and be accessible to him. Which makes watching adverts a bit of a problem… He thinks we can go to Marwell Zoo every week and that we must have a hands-free soap dispenser. We recently bought him a BatCave for his birthday because he likes superheroes and it seemed to be everywhere – we had a hell of a job explaining that it wasn’t going to come alive like it did in the advert!

He became very excited every time an advert came on for a new cereal aimed at kids. A young girl ate this new chocolatey breakfast and all of her teddy bears came to life and danced with her. My son would excitedly point at the screen every time it came on and after shouting "Mum it’s the dancing bears!" would proceed to execute his own nifty routine in honour. I promised him I would buy this cereal as he seemed so excited by it. Yes, I know I am a sucker but like most parents I try to keep my child happy and am always on the hunt for new things he will actually eat (mealtimes are usually a bit of a battle). Maybe the Dancing Bears would add more variety to breakfast time?

And besides I am always thrilled when he takes an interest in something – whether it’s a new book, a new game or yes indeed something on the TV, it’s fun to try and recreate things at home and read and play and talk about all kind of things together.

We found the new cereal in a supermarket but it looked everso slightly different. He was convinced we had picked up the wrong box (we hadn’t) and so we had to ask a lady who worked there for verification. He solemnly asked her if it was the Dancing Bears Breakfast and with me gesticulating wildly in the background and nodding furiously she confirmed that yes it was. But he knows that adults are sometimes flexible with the truth and despite reluctantly taking the box home was still a little concerned with our choice.

The next morning we excitedly hurried downstairs to try out the new cereal. He looked nervous as we poured it into a bowl and added the milk. Ceremoniously we walked to the dining table, he sat down and took up his spoon. It was too much to hope that the actual advert would come on the TV at the same time… but it didn’t. I went back into the kitchen to get my own breakfast and watched him from afar. He was definitely eating it. Well done advertising!

But things had got very quiet, I poked my head round the door. He was anxiously looking around, swallowing down mouthfuls with little tears rolling down his face and into his bowl. I rushed in to him. "Whats the matter darling?" And of course: "There are no dancing bears mummy," he gulped as the newfangled cereal was obviously turning into ash in his mouth. "Maybe we did buy the wrong one." I shook a virtual fist at all the advertising agencies out there prepared to mislead my son and decided to be honest with him about every advert he sees from then on.

Sorry son, it’s a hard lesson. I know life would be a lot more exciting if there were more dancing bears around but if it looks too good to be true it probably is…

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