Jimmy Kimmel continued one of the best traditions on television last night.
For the sixth year in a row, he asked parents to film themselves playing a pretty harmless prank on their kids.
Mothers and fathers around the country told their little girls and little boys that they ate all of their Halloween candy, recording the children’s reactions and sending the footage in to Jimmy Kimmel Live.
This time around, as Kimmel explained to his audience, the host himself actually has a daughter who is of Trick or Treating age.
Jane Kimmel turned two years old in July and went out with her parents as a monkey on Monday night.
“She was very excited about the candy, even though she doesn’t know the difference between lollipops and popsicles,” Kimmel said of his child.
So, having faced criticism in the past for encouraging parents to lie to their kin, Kimmel at least joined in this year.
He warned his viewers that Jane didn’t wake up in the best mood and then he shared with them a video he filmed of himself informing Jane of Daddy’s nefarious actions.
“Remember all the candy we got?” Jimmy asks Jane in the first video shared above. “Well, Daddy ate all of it.”
Jane doesn’t seem to care very much, however.
She says “no” a few times, but then seems more focused on the dirt in her empty candy bucket than the lack of candy in said bucket.
And then she asks for pancakes.
Fortunately, other parents out there had more luck than Kimmel did with Jane.
They recorded plenty of hilarious reactions from their kids after telling their sons and daughters that Mommy and Daddy devoured all their Halloween candy.
You can watch these responses in the second video shared above.
And then you can respond to the mini controversy that has actually sprung up around Kimmel’s annual prank.
Is it really wrong? Should parents never lie to their kids, as some critics have said in response to this tradition?
Or is there a difference between a lie and a joke and it’s the responsibility of a parent to simply explain this difference to their children?
Clearly, if someone takes the stand that a parent should never ever lie to a daughter or son, we can’t formulate a strong response. You are absolutely allowed to take this point of view.
But do these same parents tell their kids about the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus? It’s not a perfect comparison, of course.
It does, however, get to the point that it’s impossible to be 100% truthful at all times as a parent. So why not have a little fun along the way?