Gorgeous Brazilian Underwear. What's That? Find Out & Enter to WIN a Cami Set. 2 chances!
|
The truth is that all children lie. Sometimes kids lie to impress their peers or to fit in. Lies at this age are usually more impulsive than purely manipulative. So don’t be too alarmed at the occasional mistruth, but you don’t want it to become a pattern for your child. (Ask teachers if they’ve noticed a problem.) Motives matter. Ask yourself why he is lying. Some possibilities include: * To get out of trouble (“I didn’t do it”). * To exaggerate the truth (“I ate 100 cookies!”) * To feel in control of a scary situation (“I killed the monster under my bed.”) Parents shouldn’t sweat every lie, but should deal directly with ones they consider harmful (vs. boastful or blaming of others). Avoid accusing a child of lying without proof. Luckily, between ages 3 and 6, kids are generally poor liars. Like a poker player, they have a “tell” (averting their eyes, squirming with discomfort) which is a visual clue to parents. If caught lying, your child should apologize and be given the chance to make things right. Let your son know that lying is wrong and won’t be tolerated, but let him know you trust him to tell the truth next time.  Maureen O’Brien, PhD is a developmental psychologist, parenting coach and mother of twins. She founded www.destinationparenting.com and is the author of Watch Me Grow: I’m One-Two-Three (available at Amazon.com).
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email this
Comments (11)
  written by censustaker1, February 19, 2010
Last Day. Last hour. Last few minutes. I hope I win! As I said a great article!
written by censustaker1, February 16, 2010
It's especially hard for our children now a days because they see everyone around them lying. From their parents to members of Congress. Worst of all their idols in sports or music. Good Article! Hope it Helps!
written by censustaker1, February 15, 2010
Not a good thing to lie! Oh what a different world this would be without that sin!
written by censustaker1, February 14, 2010
It's never appropriate! We are sending our children and grand children the wrong message if we do!
 written by Marjie Johnson, February 12, 2010
My 3 children all told little lies. It can be a way they learn appropriate behavior, testing how far they go.
So much depends on how you handle it. If any one of them was hurtful or untruthful, I always made them apologize to the person, and tried to find out if they did it because someone may have done something to them to cause that reaction. I explained to them that it was wrong to turn around and do the same thing back, that it would bring them down to a lower level.
written by censustaker1, February 11, 2010
Most everyone urges their kids to tell the truth. But only some will follow the advise. One can only hope their kids will listen.
 written by Maskim, February 09, 2010
We have trouble with our 3 year old lying. Of course not big ones, just the normal, I didn't do it he did. When she does tell a lie, we explain to her why she can't do that. She does very good at letting us know when she has done some thing wrong now and the lying is down a lot.
 written by angelad, February 08, 2010
we encourage our kids to always tell the truth! we, in turn, tell the truth to them. sometimes that means not answer certain questions, diverting to a new topic or tell them it's not something we should discuss at that time.
 written by L. Janecky, February 08, 2010
All children stretch the truth. Various reasons for doing so include avoiding blame and punishment, and for shoring up poor self-image. A child's repeated lieing can be a sign of underlying problems, each of which requires a diffrent response from a parent.
Write comment
|
My 5 year old just went to kindergarten and seems to be lying. Is it age appropriate and how should I handle it?
Subscribe to this comment's feed
