I have a gorgeously adorable 5 year old daughter who over the past 6 months or so has developed a bent towards lying. Adorable + lying = bad recipe for a pushover dad (I'm really not, I may be mushy but not a pushover. honest.).

I get that all young kids lie and I get that my daughter probably isn't the worst of them, but nevertheless she does lie, and often, and in very believable ways (legit tears and pleas of, I promise, I really really promise), over very minor things. Her goal in lying is naturally that she either (a) doesn't want to get in trouble, or (b) wants something (mommy said I could have candy - no. she didn't.). Lately, the issue has been when we ask her if she's done a specific thing we've told her she's not allowed to do. The answer is always "No" -- we know (or at least highly suspect) she's lying, but we have no real way to verify which times are truth and which times are lies. (this isn't really my question, but to try and cultivate truth we've expressed that the main thing isn't disobeying, it's lying to us about it. If you just tell the truth, we won't even be that upset at you.)

So, my question is for those of you who've gone through this stage with your kids in the past -- does it get better? I know that I need to encourage her in truth, but I mainly wonder just as a personality trait in general, can I expect her to ever do a 180 in this? My wife and I are committed to honesty, regardless of consequence - we want our daughter to be, too.

Can any amount of parenting shift her desire to lie for her benefit?

note: I tagged both pre- and primary-, because she's in Kindergarten, but only met the age cutoff by 2 months.

I have a gorgeously adorable 5 year old daughter who over the past 6 months or so has developed a bent towards lying. Adorable + lying = bad recipe for a pushover dad (I'm really not, I may be mushy but not a pushover. honest.).

I get that all young kids lie and I get that my daughter probably isn't the worst of them, but nevertheless she does lie, and often, and in very believable ways (legit tears and pleas of, I promise, I really really promise), over very minor things. Her goal in lying is naturally that she either (a) doesn't want to get in trouble, or (b) wants something (mommy said I could have candy - no. she didn't.). Lately, the issue has been when we ask her if she's done a specific thing we've told her she's not allowed to do. The answer is always "No" -- we know (or at least highly suspect) she's lying at least some of the time, but we have no real way to verify which times are truth and which times are lies. (this isn't really my question, but to try and cultivate truth we've expressed that the main thing isn't disobeying, it's lying to us about it. If you just tell the truth, we won't even be that upset at you.)

So, my question is for those of you who've gone through this stage with your kids in the past -- does it get better? I know that I need to encourage her in truth, but I mainly wonder just as a personality trait in general, can I expect her to ever do a 180 in this? My wife and I are committed to honesty, regardless of consequence - we want our daughter to be, too.

Can any amount of parenting shift her desire to lie for her benefit?

note: I tagged both pre- and primary-, because she's in Kindergarten, but only met the age cutoff by 2 months.

I have a gorgeously adorable 5 year old daughter who over the past 6 months or so has developed a bent towards lying. Adorable + lying = bad recipe for a pushover dad (I'm really not, I may be mushy but not a pushover. honest.).

I get that all young kids lie and I get that my daughter probably isn't the worst of them, but nevertheless she does lie, and often, and in very believable ways (legit tears and pleas of, I promise, I really really promise), over very minor things. Her goal in lying is naturally that she either (a) doesn't want to get in trouble, or (b) wants something (mommy said I could have candy - no. she didn't.).

So, my question is for those of you who've gone through this stage with your kids in the past -- does it get better? I know that I need to encourage her in truth, but I mainly wonder just as a personality trait in general, can I expect her to ever do a 180 in this? My wife and I are committed to honesty, regardless of consequence - we want our daughter to be, too.

Can any amount of parenting shift her desire to lie for her benefit?

note: I tagged both pre- and primary-, because she's in Kindergarten, but only met the age cutoff by 2 months.

I have a gorgeously adorable 5 year old daughter who over the past 6 months or so has developed a bent towards lying. Adorable + lying = bad recipe for a pushover dad (I'm really not, I may be mushy but not a pushover. honest.).

I get that all young kids lie and I get that my daughter probably isn't the worst of them, but nevertheless she does lie, and often, and in very believable ways (legit tears and pleas of, I promise, I really really promise), over very minor things. Her goal in lying is naturally that she either (a) doesn't want to get in trouble, or (b) wants something (mommy said I could have candy - no. she didn't.). Lately, the issue has been when we ask her if she's done a specific thing we've told her she's not allowed to do. The answer is always "No" -- we know (or at least highly suspect) she's lying, but we have no real way to verify which times are truth and which times are lies. (this isn't really my question, but to try and cultivate truth we've expressed that the main thing isn't disobeying, it's lying to us about it. If you just tell the truth, we won't even be that upset at you.)

So, my question is for those of you who've gone through this stage with your kids in the past -- does it get better? I know that I need to encourage her in truth, but I mainly wonder just as a personality trait in general, can I expect her to ever do a 180 in this? My wife and I are committed to honesty, regardless of consequence - we want our daughter to be, too.

Can any amount of parenting shift her desire to lie for her benefit?

note: I tagged both pre- and primary-, because she's in Kindergarten, but only met the age cutoff by 2 months.

I have a gorgeously adorable 5 year old daughter who over the past 6 months or so has developed a bent towards lying. Adorable + lying = bad recipe for a pushover dad (I'm really not, I may be mushy but not a pushover imho).

I get that all toddlers lie and I get that my daughter probably isn't the worst of them, but nevertheless she does lie, and often, and in very believable ways (legit tears and pleas of, I promise, I really really promise), over very minor things. Her goal in lying is naturally that she either (a) doesn't want to get in trouble, or (b) wants something (mommy said I could have candy - no. she didn't.).

So, my question is for those of you who've gone through this stage with your kids in the past -- does it get better? I know that I need to encourage her in truth, but I mainly wonder just as a personality trait in general, can I expect her to ever do a 180 in this? My wife and I are committed to honesty, regardless of consequence - we want our daughter to be, too.

Can any amount of parenting shift her desire to lie for her benefit?

I have a gorgeously adorable 5 year old daughter who over the past 6 months or so has developed a bent towards lying. Adorable + lying = bad recipe for a pushover dad (I'm really not, I may be mushy but not a pushover. honest.).

I get that all young kids lie and I get that my daughter probably isn't the worst of them, but nevertheless she does lie, and often, and in very believable ways (legit tears and pleas of, I promise, I really really promise), over very minor things. Her goal in lying is naturally that she either (a) doesn't want to get in trouble, or (b) wants something (mommy said I could have candy - no. she didn't.).

So, my question is for those of you who've gone through this stage with your kids in the past -- does it get better? I know that I need to encourage her in truth, but I mainly wonder just as a personality trait in general, can I expect her to ever do a 180 in this? My wife and I are committed to honesty, regardless of consequence - we want our daughter to be, too.

Can any amount of parenting shift her desire to lie for her benefit?

note: I tagged both pre- and primary-, because she's in Kindergarten, but only met the age cutoff by 2 months.