Liar Liar, Pants on Fire

My kid is a big fat liar.

Not in the sense that he lies in important situations. He's the kid that will rat anyone out including himself with the promise of a lessened consequence if the truth comes out.

He lies more creatively in situations that don't really harm anyone.

At first I thought it was cute, and I may have even enabled this behavior.

"Oh? How big was the boat you took to the island for your class field trip?" 

But now, I worry slightly as I watch his wheels turning hard to weave incredibly imaginative tales that defy even a slim chance of plausibility.

"You know, I've driven a Monster Truck before. You were sleeping. I snuck out of my bed and went to Dad's work. He was still there. He showed me a big green Monster Truck and he told me that I could drive it home."

"This glass turtle is real, Mom. When you are not looking it gets up and walks all over the place. You keeping missing it, but it really happens. He's really for real."

"I went to Disney World with my class, once. We took the bus. It was really fun and Mickey Mouse rode on the bus with us."

"I know someone named Big Foot. He's my friend."

I'm not exactly sure how to respond to these tales anymore. He told me the Monster Truck one today. It took him awhile to get the whole story out and he was so excited and animated about it.

When he finished his story I said, "Wow. I love how big your imagination is! That's a great story!"

To which he replied with large sparkling eyes that were begging me to believe him, "No. It's not just my 'maginations, I did it for real."

Honestly, I think his creativity and ability to tell stories is amazing and I don't want him to lose an ounce of that.

 I just want to make sure my responses to this behavior don't encourage him to grow up to be a thirty year old pathological liar.


"So, it says here on your resume that you know 7 different languages, traveled to the moon, and you've listed Big Foot as a business reference? Interesting. Can you tell me a little more about your previous job duties as a Monster Truck driver?"