"We have never been called to define God, we have been called to behold Him." - Abraham Joshua Heschel

Moment in Time Photography - Blog

October 04, 2008

+ and -

How does one deal with lying? Anthony has discovered that he can say he's done something to get the result he wants. Even if that something isn't true. Yesterday alone he did it about 6 times. We are trying to teach him that lying gets him into more trouble then if he just told the truth, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a long struggle. Yesterdays big thing was not going potty before we went somewhere. He'd say he went and then like 5 minutes later would start doing the pee-pee dance and ask to go to the bathroom. Short of taking him and watching him go pee, or turning around and coming home, what do I do? I am pretty sure it is a stage that most kids go through at some point, it's just not a trait I want to encourage or see continue in him. It's hard to because I tend to believe him when he tells me somethign because up until this point I have had no reason not to, so I now find myself going and checking and looking and makign sure that every little thing he says is true. It's exhausting work but I do know that the end results are worth it.
On a positive Anthony note, I have created a chore chart for him (and his sister cuz she wanted one too) and I find that I no longer have to tell him 50 times a day to hang up his jacket or take this dishes to the counter. Everytime he does something on his chart he gets a sticker, when the chart is full he gets to do something special with me or Troy. Last night was his first time and he choose to go and play mini-putt. As well as things that I want him to do (like jackets and dishes) I also have a spot for being helpful and sharing nicely, traits I want to encourage. It's great because I am finding that he is much more willing to help his sister AND he is not constantly doing things and asking for a sticker, which I was worried about.

2 comments:

Dorothy said...

I have no advice for you on the lying thing. I would just like to point out that since children are born innocent someone must have taught him to lie...yup, there's no way he could have learned it otherwise! :) (<--little happy face to show it's a joke.)
Oh, and re-read your paragraph about the chore chart; pay close attention to the word "full" :)

Lindsay said...

I can't wait to hear/see how the chore chart works for you ... I've been thinking of doing that with Mason, but he already insists on vaccuming and dusting (without the chart) ... so, we'll see!

You're doing a great job teaching/mothering your children - keep it up!! :)