I guess that every child goes thru lying every now and then.
Thing is….HS2 is going thru it more than, say, Barney attempts to inhale small children on a daily basis.
As you can imagine, this gets 'way frustrating 'way quick!
However, dealing with it is not as easy as MamaBear would prefer. I would personally prefer to shriek to the heavens:
Lying Bad! Truth Good!
and then institute 839 various and sundry agonizing consequences that would make me feel super wondrous.
Alas, however, that wouldn't be the most optimal approach!
It's much better to get at the root causes of the lying and deal with that *first*.
So! Instead of imploding with the grace of a thousand suns, instead I sat HS2 down and addressed the issues. He had told me he read 12 Box Car Children books; I picked a random one and asked a typical question about it.
He couldn't answer it.
Then I asked another. And another.
And it finally came out that he had only read one half way…and that he was waiting to get the whole series before starting to really read.
In other words, his lie was what he had wished he had already accomplished.
Consequences were still called for, of course, so MamaBear had him write 3 paragraphs:
- What he did wrong (lie)
- Why he did it (wanted the whole series and wanted to impress me)
- What he will do in the future (actually read the books)
I think another aspect of the whole situation deals with self-confidence and showing that he's as good as the other kids. He *is*, but for some reason….he tries to take short-cuts to gain the same level of appreciation.
Methinks I have to work on that more.
Still, though, it's all good…HS2 is now reading his favorite Box Car book and will then write his version of how *he* would deal with the mystery.
And the joys of parenting go on!
Parent well,
MamaBear