Aren’t we all liars? Whether it be a lie to the question “did you poop?” (I’m sure all our children have told us this one…or am I alone?) or a lie to the question “are you lying to me?”, we are all conditioned to lie at some point in our life. Maybe we don’t want to disappoint or maybe we just want to cover our own behinds, regardless of the reason, aren’t we all little liars?! But today isn’t about lying to our spouse, our mom, or our husbands… it’s about lying to our kids.
Do you find yourself feeling a bit like Pinocchio from time to time? *Raising my hand and waving it in the air*
A new study just came out that 84% of United States parents lie to their children to get them to behave.
When I was reading this article put out by ABC news {yes, I read the news contrary to popular belief} I was floored at what was considered “lying”. I mean, I EASILY say all of the most common lies at least once a day and am definitely guilty as charged of the most common lie you will read below.
Here are the most common lies.
Most Common Lie Parents Tell Their Children
Scenario: Child is throwing a tantrum in public
Lie: “Alright, Lincoln, Mommy is going to go bye bye and leave you here.”- We all know that we aren’t really going to leave our child. I’ve even threatened to pull over while driving with my niece and nephew and force them out of the car and leave them on the side of the road if they didn’t straighten up (probably one of my more extreme lies), which I would definitely NEVER do. I will add, the car became quiet. That’s a win, right?
ABC News’ Take: When a child is having a tantrum in public and the parent says he or she will walk away and leave the child if the kid doesn’t behave.
2nd Most Common Lie Parents Tell Their Children
Scenario: Child is throwing a tantrum in public
Lie: “Lincoln, I guess we won’t be able to buy you that new balloon since you’re behaving so badly.”- This one is a bit more difficult for me since Lincoln is still a little young to fully grasp the concept of wanting a toy and mommy having to buy it for him, but it works like a CHARM on my niece and nephew.
ABC News’ Take: Another common lie is a false promise of buying a requested toy or item at a later date if the child behaves.
3rd Most Common Lie Parents Tell Their Children
Scenario: Child is throwing a tantrum in public
Lie: “Santa Claus doesn’t come visit the homes of bad boys, just so you know.”- I say this one to my nephew starting in October almost daily up until Christmas and have been doing so since he was 2 ish…. He’s now 9 and still a believer so I anticipate at least another year of this charade.
ABC News’ Take: Parents in the US lied more about fictional characters such as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.
Above are just a few of the many lies I’m sure we have up our sleeves in any given day when our kids are misbehaving. The one common denominator in the above scenarios is the fact that the child is throwing a tantrum in public, which is humiliating in itself AND the fact that I’m a REALLY crappy aunt!!! I guess I never really considered myself to be a liar since I was trying to promote positive behavior and now I can’t help but wonder if I’m teaching my child to lie. My intentions are good, does that count?
What lies do you tell your kids? Let’s share here so we can have more lies in our lie bag to pull out. Or are you completely against “promoting positive behavior” lies and have a different antic?
