Liar, liar, pants on fire!
It's the opening line of a one-hit wonder recorded in 1965 by the Minnesota-based garage band "The Castaways".
Then there's the song "Liar", recorded by Three Dog Night in 1970 and featured on their album "Naturally". That simple word makes up the entire chorus of the song.
Then there's the 1997 movie starring Jim Carrey, Maura Tierney and Cary Elwes. Carrey's character lies so much that his young son makes a birthday wish that for one day, his father can't tell a lie...which comes true, with results that are both hilarious and disastrous at the same time.
Bill Cosby addressed is his 1982 "Himself" concert film how someone once told him that children are truthful. He counters this statement with "a fifteen-month-old child knows when to lie", using a forbidden cookie as an example.
But how does a child LEARN to lie?
Go take a good hard look in the mirror.
You'll find your answer there.
I find it amusing on how parents can call their child out for lying while at the same time saying "I'm not home!" to their spouse heading for their ringing phone.
Even "The Family Circus", calls attention to this. Billy, Jeffy, Dolly and P.J. are standing at the open door to a trenchcoated man, and Billy calls out "It's a salesman, Mommy. Should we tell him you're not home?"
As parents, we plant the seeds.
Children come into this world knowing nothing at all. They assimilate into the world that surrounds them. A world of cheaters, liars, dishonesty, and other bad things that they often see with rose-colored glasses.
This is where you as a parent come in. To shield them against these things.
You lie about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the real reason Grandma "went to Heaven".
These aren't bad.
Stating bold-faced lies to family, friends, and associates are wrong. On the other hand, brutal honesty is not always the best policy.
This is where a positive mental attitude can mean the entire world.
Show your child the beauty in something you know is ugly.
That spider might be ugly...but for the most part, they stay confined to their webs and out of the way, while feeding on houseflies and other household pests that make us reach for the Black Flag.
Choose your words carefully.
Don't want to take that call? Simply say "take a message". That's it. You decide whether or not to return the call.
All lies do is perpetuate a cycle of deceit.
Your thoughts, actions, and words, whether you know it or not, crystallize in your child's mind at an early age.
An honest parent will make an honest child.
Unless they decide to enter politics. That's a whole other column.
NEXT WEEK: For the Future
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