As parents we may not have thought about the consequences of lying to our children. We tell small white lies and think nothing of it. But, we need to be aware of the message it may be sending to our children. Parents lying to children happens and they lie for different reasons. It may because they want to protect their children from the harshness of the world. Or they want their child to keep the innocence of childhood so they lie about santa, the Easter bunny, or the tooth fairy. In fact, these are the most common white lies parents tell their child. One of our jobs as parents is to help our children navigate the world around them. This doesn’t mean that we need to have to remove the magic of childhood. What we need to do though, is prepare them for when that magic may end by preparing them. This means talking to them about how some of this information may change as they get older and encouraging them to come and talk to you if when have questions. This allows you to keep your credibility with your child. When the time comes for your child to learn the truth about white lies, it’s always best to hear the truth from you. If not, your child could question if there are other things you’re lying to them. Or, they may feel that because you lied to them it’s ok for them to lie too. Not every child is going to have psychological issues due to lying about Santa, but we wanted to make parents aware of the possible consequences of lying to children. Leave us your thoughts on the subject!