Lies, Damn Lies And Statistics

We grownups are known for telling lies, and I am pretty sure some of you will be honest enough to accept the same.

Here is a sample:

“I am not well so can’t come to office” (Who goes to office when Sachin is playing his last match?)

“If anybody calls please tell him I am not in office” (Who wants to speak to that pesky vendor)

“I can’t come to your cousin’s wedding because I will be working late as a US delegation is visiting us” —I have never liked your side of relatives that I got in dowry.

I hope you get the gist.

But what about kids? That little bundle of joys, reincarnation of God himself on earth yet to be corrupted by the insane world and learn the machinations to speak the lie.

I’ll be damned if I say my kids don’t lie, they actually lie with a finesse that it is hard to decipher. But there is a difference on the reasons why kid’s lie, some of them one can understand, some of them are actually on borderline of lies and fantasy.

Here is a small sample.

“No Papa, we have not got any homework today, so CAN I watch extra TV today”

“I am not hungry” (The most common lie or is it the truth?)

“She did it!” Scream the both of them in chorus… now how are we poor parents to know, which one of the siblings is responsible for that spilled milk on the floor or was it a joint venture?

While these lies may have some vested interest to avoid homework, milk or get some extra TV or play time, I am unable to understand fantasy based lies.

A few days ago, I found a Bat in our building lobby and clicked some pictures in presence of the kids. Nothing great and the kids watched from a safe distance while I was living my Nat Geo moment.

But once we reached home, this is what our younger one told her mom,

“Mom there was a huge bat in the lobby, while papa was trying to click his pictures he flew and attacked me on the head, I ducked and avoided but he came back, but I just shooed him with my hand and it went out of the window”

I had to intervene and ask the kiddo when did all this happen, she just smiled and said,

“Oh Papa you missed it, you were busy looking in your camera!”

A lot of times I have heard kids playing and they will typically have an invisible friend with whom they continuously talk. Sometimes, more than two kids will see the same imaginary friend and continue to talk to him/her as if they can see that imaginary friend simultaneously. I am not sure if this is some kind of a lie or a fantasy or something else, may be a child psychiatrist will be able to comment on the same better.

As far as lies from the kids go, I am not sure what to make out of them, is it out of innocence or are they just following us, the parents, when we tell a lie without even realizing it.

What is your experience about the same? Any suggestions you have on how to deal with such situations?

Sasha and Prasad Np are proud parents of 2 girls whom they fondly call Princess and Pinkette. He wears many hats after taking a break from being corner office critter for a long time. He is now an entrepreneur, blogger, photographer, traveler and a potential investor in start-ups with unique concepts especially if they are in travel related business. He blogs at Desi Traveler, and can be reached at Facebook and Twitter.