but you shouldn't lie to kids

[rainous]

It’s OK to lie to us but you shouldn’t lie to kids.


Hi,

Would there be more clever way to rephrase the sentence?

Let me give you a little bit of context:

There are two adults and one kid. One adult made a promise to the kid earlier that he would get the kid a Christmas gift but he didn't follow through with it; later that day, the disheartened kid brought it up and the sentence above is what the other adult is saying upon hearing what happened.

I know this might be a bit too much to ask but
I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me rephrase or tweak the sentence
to make it sound better.

More specifically, I am wondering if there is a better word or phrase to use in place of "lie" in this type of situation.

Also, I want to know if there is more refined or delicate way to flesh out the format I used above, which is "It's OK _____ us but you shouldn't _____ with/to kids."; or to change the format entirely in a more delicate way without leaving out any meanings.

I am not sure how much of what I said will actually get through to our experts
but this was the best I could do to lay down my question.

Thanks

[5jj]

In a sense, it wasn't a 'lie' as such - unless the adult made the promise knowing that they had no intention of keeping it. Also, your situation is rather unnatural, unless the adult made the promise on Christmas Day.

I think the second adult would be more likely to say something like, "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep", or, "If you promise a child something, you should keep your promise".

[rainous]

In a sense, it wasn't a 'lie' as such - unless the adult made the promise knowing that they had no intention of keeping it. Also, your situation is rather unnatural, unless the adult made the promise on Christmas Day.

I think the second adult would be more likely to say something like, "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep", or, "If you promise a child something, you should keep your promise".

Thanks for your comment. Sorry about my story being rather unnatural. I just made it up hurriedly for the purpose of asking the question.

All I am wishing for at this point is figuring out a way to supplement your suggestion "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep." by adding the idea of the first half of my original sentence - "It's OK to lie to us me" ; how could I rephrase it so it fits nicely with your suggestion?

It's OK among/between us but you shouldn't make promises to kids you can't keep.
or
It's OK between us but you shouldn't make false promises to kids.

Are these possible? Does "it's OK between us" make sense to native speakers?