I was reading the other day that 80% of parents admit lying to their kids on a somewhat regular basis. My first thought was, “How could they? There’s no way 80% of parents do that!!”
And then I stopped to think. Gosh, I tell my kids lies all the time.
Lie: Guys we’ll be there any minute.
Truth: We’re 76 miles away.
Lie: If you don’t eat your green beans you’ll never develop muscles and be able to play football.
Truth: Your mother and I both realize green beans actually do nothing for your muscle development, but we feel that one of the requirements of being good parents is getting your kids to eat foods they don’t like such as green beans.
Lie: If you don’t stop crying we’ll never be allowed to come back in this store again.
Truth: As long as we come in here and spend money they’ll let us come back as much as we want, but your crying is making me look bad right now so I’ll tell you anything to keep you quiet.
Lie: Ummmm, I would love to get that for you, but we can’t because we don’t have any money. Maybe next time.
Truth: We have enough money to buy like 234 of those things but there is no way in heck we’re going to waste our money on that and we’re hoping you forget about it between now and the next time we’re in here.
I could keep going, but I think you get the point. Nearly everyone agrees, Honesty is the best policy. Yet, when push comes to shove, we throw that policy out the window to manipulate our kids into doing what we want them to do.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Is it possible to raise your kids without telling them lies along the way?
