Lies We Tell Our Children: Pt. 2

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything” Mark Twain

Telling lies has been around for ages, but is it a good trait? How do lies affect our character? A history of lying started from the Garden of Eden tracing its crooked path down the ages to today. Studies reveal that each and every one of us lies every few minutes. Lying has reached epidemic proportions threatening the very foundations of society, corroding our civil discourse, and warping our politics.

Long before John, the scripture warned that “every man is a liar.” After John, throughout the Middle Ages, into and beyond the Renaissance, few people would deny that the problem of lies had reached never-before-witnessed proportions. And so, it trickles down the ages to our parents, who never saw the evil of it but practiced and modeled it in the home. Teachers sugarcoat it to parents and now parents want us to help them plant that crooked evil seed in their children.

One of the seven deadly sins God hates is a lying tongue (Proverbs 6:16–17). And the bible commands us not to lie to one another, Colossians 3:9.

I know many people will be angry with me, but truth has value and it will prevail. I am a parent first, then what I choose to become for a career. I choose teaching and just as I practice speaking the truth in my home to my children, I hold that standard to myself everywhere I go. In the pulpit, on the street, in the store in my home, and at my job. Just as parents hold teachers responsible for teaching their children Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Reading, and Writing, they should hold teachers to the same standard too, of speaking truth to their children and respecting my standards. Do not ask me to help you lie to your children or to sugarcoat a lie. A lie is a lie, it is a sin and it’s wrong.

“When someone finds out you have lied, it affects how that person deals with you forever.”

My third-grade teacher Mrs. Wong was pregnant. She told the entire class that she would not be in school for a while because she was going to have a baby. I was not a stupid child. I was very observant for my age. Mrs. Wong had a huge stomach. I would miss her because she was a very nice teacher. She was kind and loving and spent a little extra time with any student who was struggling with an academic problem. So, that day I went home and told my mom Mrs. Wong was going to have her baby. I was curious and wanted to know where she was going to get her baby.

My mother says the airplane will be carrying her baby. A few days later, at lunchtime at school, a plane flew overhead, and I jumped up shouting, “There is the plane that is carrying Mrs. Wong’s baby. There is the plane that Mrs. Wong’s baby is in!”

All of the children nearby heard and stopped to look up where I pointed. Then many looked at me weirdly laughing. Someone asked, “Where is the plane going to get that baby from?” That started a very funny discussion as many children were told a different story. They laughed at me so hard, I felt bad, but had to laugh too.

It took me a while to realize that the baby did not come from an airplane and my mother lied. She kept lying for no apparent reason for years, even in my adulthood.

I made it a responsibility to tell my children the truth about where they came from.

According to mercy.com “Avoiding truthful conversations can erode a child’s trust. It can also prevent them from learning how to healthily deal with their own feelings. Kids whose parents frequently lie to them are more likely to lie to their parents later in life.”

If the information was too mature for my age, then tell me when I get older, or tell me the story about the birds and the bees. When children start asking questions, I believe it is the time parents need to be open and truthful to them. If they are uncomfortable talking to them then, buy books that cover that specific question for them to read and let them know. If they have more questions, we can talk about it. It’s time for parents to be truthful to their children when they ask specific things. If they lie and don’t share, then, someone else will tell them bluntly and you will not be happy.

As children, our parents indoctrinated us by lying that storks bring babies. My mother told us a bird bought me. Instead of telling us the truth. I am aware that the truth can be confusing to a child. Some would say nasty too. Lol

The reproductive process and conception would seem yucky to some children. Our imagination would explode if the truth of the reproductive process was fully explained leaving nothing out.

“In a time of universal deceit — telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoy it and will savor more from some talented writers on this platform, whose links are below.