Raising Grafton with Jenn Merkle
Honest, Parents Sometimes Have to Lie
White lies fall in a grey category.
Sometime in the early 90’s B.C. (before children) I am pretty sure I made a vow to always be open and honest with my future children. As a kid, I never liked hearing, “Because I said so.” I thought that as long as I was honest about my reasons with my children then we would have a wonderful relationship. Here’s the thing. Kids don’t care about your reasons. I can’t think of one time that I have sat my kids in a time-out and they’ve gotten up and said, “You know what mom? I was being pretty unreasonable back there and you were right to give me a few moments to think about my actions.” They just have to know what they were doing was wrong and won’t be tolerated and you all move on. I will admit to a few fibs over the years. I think they …
Angelina Gellato
1:34 pm on Friday, August 26, 2011
Sandy, I enjoyed your article. As a child psychologist I would like to take this one step further. White lies, fine, as long as they don't hurt anyone and you can laugh about them together with your children as they get older. Now, family secrets, a totally different situation. Children always know if something is amiss. Be honest with your children on the big stuff. Secrets fester. Once you get … more ›