Jeff Watts

Here’s a new study that found that children begin to lie as young as 6 months:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/07/01/scibaby101.xml

This reminded me of one of Mandi’s experiences with another mom when the other mom’s kid – I think 4 or 5 years old at the time – denied something that Mandi actually saw him do.  The other mom told Mandi that she believed his story over hers, saying, “My kid is at an age where he always tells the truth, so I have to believe him.”

From personal experience, I can say that our daughter started trying to lie about different things at a pretty young age – certainly before age 2 – though I don’t remember when.  Our son has not tried to lie about something yet, to my knowledge…but I’ve got my eye on him! 

You can look at those little lies as cute, unimportant, or inconsequential – and on the surface, you might be right.  However, those little lies are also the first signs of rebellion, which is not cute, unimportant, or inconsequential.  It has long lasting effects – namely, more rebellion – if not checked.  It’s easier to correct a 3 year old who wants to lie about a 3 year old issue than to correct a 13 year old who wants to lie about a 13 year old issue.