Raising Davis: The struggles of the fib phase

Davis’ Grade 1 teachers used to comment that they could trust Davis because he was so honest. If he didn’t get all of his reading homework done, he would tell them exactly how much or how little he read the night before. If he had a disagreement with a fellow student, he would tell the teacher that he was to blame because he said this or that and it upset his classmate. I also trusted Davis to tell me the truth. Those were the days. It was a good run.

The lying started about a year ago. They are little lies, such as saying he had brushed his teeth when his breath and yellow smile said otherwise. 

I would ask “Davis, did you put your clean laundry away?” 

“Oh yeah, Mom – all done,” he would reply. I would later find his pants and T-shirts all balled up and thrown in his armoire. I guess that’s one way of doing it!

Davis is full of inventive answers that leave him blameless in any situation. He will use the classics like “the dog did it”, “I forgot” or “I didn’t know that is what you meant” when trying to explain the lack of follow-through to any given task. Somehow, anything that he is called to task about will be followed by a long tale about why he couldn’t get to it. Or better yet, he will suggest he never heard me ask him in the first place.

He is trying us on for size to see how much he can get away with and how little he can do before getting in trouble, (which means having his video games and electronic devices taken away). 

Davis knows that I am on to him. He says he is eager to be trusted, but the little lies keep on coming.

I’m not sure if this is just a phase or if this will be his new normal. I’m not sure how to deal with it.

The other day Davis lost a tooth and the Tooth Fairy forgot to visit. When Davis asked me the next morning why she hadn’t left him any money, I had to spin a tale about the power going out and the Tooth Fairy getting lost in the dark. I think he bought it but I felt terrible lying to him. The power going out was true but the Tooth Fairy part? Totally busted. Everyone knows the Tooth Fairy can see in the dark.

Meghan Bradley is a full-time sales rep and mother of Davis, 6, and stepmother to Madison and MacKenzy, 15.  To read more of Meghan’s Mommy Diaries, visit raisingdavis.com or follow her on Twitter @raisingdavis. 

Originally published in ParentsCanada magazine, November 2013.