Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire...
Somebody, anybody, please tell me that my 4-year-old's behavior is normal.
It's not that he LIES, exactly. Well, yes he does. But he doesn't tell blatant, malicious lies. When asked if he ate all of the Cheetos, he'll fess up. When I ask if he's made his bed, he'll think for a moment, but eventually settle for the truth.
It's more of a story-telling kind of lie.
Like the story of two 8-year-old boys that are in his primary class and the 12-year-old boys that baptized them. And he "doesn't know why they're in his class, but they really, really, really are, Mom!"
Or the giant Coyote he saw that was going to eat his friend, but luckily Kyle got there and happened to have his sword. So he fought him off and his friend said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
And I'm leaving all of the details out. Trust me, these are big, elaborate stories.
And for now, I guess I'll treat them as such. He's just using his imagination, right? It's got to be some developmental stage they go through.
So for now, I'll just relax. When I can't distinguish the lies from the stories - that's when I'll start to worry.
5 comments:
Ruth,
Totally normal. My mother always tells the story of going to the elementary school for my oldest brother's back to school night. She knew the teacher's name, but didn't have a room number and all she could go off was my brother's detailed description of his teacher as a tall, black woman. She walked up and down the hallway, not finding a tall black woman and finally gave up and went into the first room she could see to ask for help. Imagine her surprise when she was greeted by a teacher with the correct name, who fit the description perfectly...of a short jewish woman.
Very entertaining at least!
My nephew (now 15) was a great "story" teller. The best was the one he told his 1st grade teacher. When his mom came to pick him up from school, the teacher sincerely asked how Drake's dad was doing after being in that horrific car accident and sent to the emergency room that morning!
But Drake is one of the coolest teenagers I know. I'm sure it had to do a lot with his huge imagination.
Kyle sounds like a pretty cool person to hang out with!
What an imagination! The good news is you're right! From a child development view point, he's not lying. He's just making up stories based on something he WISHES were true (for whatever reason). Good luck and keep us posted on the cute stories!
Totally normal! Just the other day, I heard a fascinating tale of how a bee was going to sting Jenny, but luckily Paul had his sword to kill it so it didn't get her. It's hard to know what to do.....do you encourage the imagination or encourage telling the truth? I also noticed that we have the exact same taste in books! I need some more suggestions...
I think he's just using his imagination. Those lies are way better than Adelle's lies, that are blatant. (i.e. at bed time, Mom-"Adelle do you know where your sister's toy is" Adelle-"No" Mom turns on lights and sees the toy in Adelle's hand! Where do they get this stuff?)
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