Look at this face.
My friend took this picture of Dax a few years ago and it’s absolutely one of my favorites of him. I am so lucky I get to see this face everyday. It just melts my heart. It’s the sweetest, most endearing, loveable face. His eyes are so big and full of life, his cheeks are still as squeezable and kissable to this day. It’s hard to get mad when a little boy looks at you with this face. It really is.
As you can see, the face isn’t the problem.
It’s what has been coming out of the mouth on this little face that is becoming the problem.
Lies. Little white lies.
How did this happen? How did he figure out that he can blame his brother for the broken toy that he threw up into the fan? How did he figure out that he point his skinny little finger at his brother when I ask who got toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror when he is the only one that can reach the toothpaste. How did he figure out that he can yell his brother’s name when I want to know who dumped out the eighty plus piece plastic tool set that I just picked up (and regret everyday that I bought in the first place) when his brother is strapped in his chair at the table eating dinner and he is the only one running around?
And how did he manage to tell me it was Wyatt again in all those instances when I bent down close to his face and looked him in the eyes and said, “Dax, tell me the truth.”
Oh the horror!!
He knows the story of Pinocchio. He knows that lies grow and grow until they are as plain as the long nose on Pinocchio’s face. Obviously the bedtime reading of this story hasn’t helped.
So, what happens next when he masters the art of fibbing and I no longer can see and hear things without actually seeing and hearing them. Or I can no longer use my mother intuition and skills of reasoning to catch him red handed. What happens when he out smarts me and I don’t really know when he is or isn’t telling the truth.
What do I do? Tell me this is just a phase. How do I make it stop?
My friend took this picture of Dax a few years ago and it’s absolutely one of my favorites of him. I am so lucky I get to see this face everyday. It just melts my heart. It’s the sweetest, most endearing, loveable face. His eyes are so big and full of life, his cheeks are still as squeezable and kissable to this day. It’s hard to get mad when a little boy looks at you with this face. It really is.
As you can see, the face isn’t the problem.
It’s what has been coming out of the mouth on this little face that is becoming the problem.
Lies. Little white lies.
How did this happen? How did he figure out that he can blame his brother for the broken toy that he threw up into the fan? How did he figure out that he point his skinny little finger at his brother when I ask who got toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror when he is the only one that can reach the toothpaste. How did he figure out that he can yell his brother’s name when I want to know who dumped out the eighty plus piece plastic tool set that I just picked up (and regret everyday that I bought in the first place) when his brother is strapped in his chair at the table eating dinner and he is the only one running around?
And how did he manage to tell me it was Wyatt again in all those instances when I bent down close to his face and looked him in the eyes and said, “Dax, tell me the truth.”
Oh the horror!!
He knows the story of Pinocchio. He knows that lies grow and grow until they are as plain as the long nose on Pinocchio’s face. Obviously the bedtime reading of this story hasn’t helped.
So, what happens next when he masters the art of fibbing and I no longer can see and hear things without actually seeing and hearing them. Or I can no longer use my mother intuition and skills of reasoning to catch him red handed. What happens when he out smarts me and I don’t really know when he is or isn’t telling the truth.
What do I do? Tell me this is just a phase. How do I make it stop?
Because the only thing I can think of for this little face is to wash this little mouth out with soap. Don’t make me do it.
6 comments:
Just came here to finally comment on diapery Wyatt in your last post. I love diaper babies.
And here I was greeted with one of my favorite pictures of Dax too. Oh, how I love those eyes. The only thing I can think of is to not ask, "Who broke this toy? (when you already know it was him), but to say, "Dax, why did you break the toy." It's easy for a 3 year old to deny something, but I don't think they're smart enough (yet) to come up with an excuse that's a lie. Let me know if it works, I might have a little Gwen-Pinochio. And the soap would break my heart. Please, please, please Dax-don't make her do it!
Owen tells those little white lies too! Anytime he pushes or hits someone, he says "they fell". Everytime! Usually I tell him he will need to sit in time out till he remembers the truth. After a minute or two I hear, "well what really happened..." Good Luck!
Bradley is doing the same thing. Today I told him that he will be in more trouble for lying than for what he did and he finally told the truth. If you hear of any other brilliant ways to stop this crazy behavior let me know.
I about hypervenilated when Alexa started telling little lies. My mind went directly to her teen years and before you know it I had conjured up in my mind her sneaking out at night, doing drugs, sleeping around, and every other terrible thing a mom could think of all because she lied about breaking a toy at the age of 4. Crazy how that works!:) Skye has a little video clip from work that we showed alexa;it helps......sometimes! I will let you borrow it. :)
I'm going through the same thing with Dylan. It makes me so sad to know that she has learned how to tell little white lies that could potentially turn into whoppers. She holds strong to her fibs and sits in time out and everything, but eventually, I get the truth. She doesn't get yet that the punishment will always be worse if she lies about it. I like Jamie's suggestion though. I might try that and see how it goes.
Kids tell lies, or "stories" I like to call them to stay out of trouble. I had to deal with it all of the time in the classroom. They all lie to stay out of trouble! As long as works, that connection is strengthened in their little brains. He might not get it now, but stay consistent in letting him know the consequences are more severe when he lies. My principal in Phoenix, her motto was "relentless consistency"!!
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