Son is in the lieing phase

[Best Dad]

My 6 year old son is repeatedly stretching the truth. Most kids go through it. Anyway the NJ is calling me every time he stretches the truth and accuses me of bad parenting bs. I ignore her and just hang up. My real issue is dealing with the young man and attempting to curb the behavior. Its difficult because she encourages that nonsense though her own actions that he sees. My dad would have spanked my azz all the way to bed but obviously I cant do that. Thinking about taking things he likes when I catch him doing it.

[Fatheroffour]

Does he lie about such things in your presence? Is he accusing NJ of bad parenting while in your care?

If not, the prob is with NJ, not the kid.


Just to add, I used to get some of the same stuff from my ex. The kids said this or the kids said that. After telling her "You should hear what the kids are saying about you." I stopped getting those emails.

[Trevor]

"You should hear what the kids are saying about you."

Elegant solution.

[davidd]

96% of kids lie. It's not a character flaw; it's an important part of growing up, especially at this age. Six year-olds lie on average once an hour. If you focus on their lying, they lie to cover up. Try not to focus on it unless it really gets out of control. If you are a role model of honesty, your kid will see the benefits as he grows out of this stage.

Here is a good article on the subject:
http://nymag.com/news/features/43893/

[Fatheroffour]

96% huh?

Any way we can identify the remaining 4%?

----------------------------

Everyone lies.

[jerico08]

96% huh? Any way we can identify the remaining 4%?
Everyone lies.

Not Him!!!

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/899/b9.jpg

[Fatheroffour]

But he did. I remember an episode when he skipped school and lied about it.

It's an inescapable part of human nature. The most irritating are the liars that are insistant that they always tell the truth.

[defaultuser]

At this age, kids often tell stories that are fantasy but they aren't really lying. They also lie. There is a difference.

If you give your kid an opportunity to lie, they will. I don't like being lied to and I also don't think its a good idea to teach them to lie, so I don't put them in a position to lie.

I try my best to not punish my kids for telling the truth and if they lie to me, I show them that the lie just makes things worse for them.

I agree that it is a phase but it can become a habit if you and the X don't react properly. My kids think nothing of lying to the NJ. They do it all the time. They do not lie to me very often though. I think its because they know I have their back.

[Trevor]

[Sidebar] My x is in a lying phase and I got to see her [I was gonna say "embarass herself" but that would imply the presence of conscience, yet there is no evidence of that] squirm for an hour as my lawyer methodically disasembled their case and shone a bright light on their attempted lies, fabrications, obfuscations, and manipulations. Yes, I am gloating; shut up. [/Sidebar]

When raising my daughters, I didn't have a big problem with lying. If they told the truth, I tended to be a bit lenient and had them rectify the issue (i.e., clean up their own messes). The only thing I did when they would lie is make sure the punishment was strong enough so that when I explained what the punishment would have been had they simply told the truth, reminding them of my leniency in examples A and B, they got the message quickly. I can't even think of many times I really had to do this.