GD telling woppers

My sister had an invisible friend who my sister always said was responsible for any naughty behaviour. This friend had a fantastic name and joined the family when my sister was about 4, moving out after school started but remaining in family folklore to this day.

I actively encourage DGs2 (4yrs) to elaborate on the truth when he is reluctant to talk about school. I tell him amazing things I have "done" & then he responds in similar style. We laugh about it..but he sometimes checks the garden for my new pet lion!

My DGS, aged three, started talking late but is making up for it by never stopping. His latest thing is to do something he knows is naughty and then, with a completely honest face, blame the long-suffering dog.

DGD1 did the same and then went on to fib when she was around six. But she soon found it didn't pay. Her parents just stopped believing her. Totally. If she said she'd hung her coat up they'd go and check, making a point of saying that they couldn't trust her as she told porkies. No punishment but they simply treated everything she said as a lie. She learnt very quickly it didn't pay and is now the most honest child.

She has a vivid imagination and gets high marks for her story telling at school. DGS1 is also showing signs of a good imagination. I shouldn't worry too much, it's just part of growing and once she finds it doesn't pay she'll stop.

When my DD was small, I went to see her teacher a couple of times as DD had said someone had done this, that or the other to her. On each occasion it turned out she was telling porkies. Children sometimes fib to get themselves out of trouble or to impress their friends. I never worried too much about it (other than the embarrassment of having to face the teacher). I used to do it myself to make myself feel as though I fitted in.

This is reassuring as my five year old GD tells whoppers . She told her older sister that whilst in London with her mother she met some of the cast from Strictly . We all believed her . She does this with her teachers too as they have queried this with her parents. I think this is done to make her feel or seem more important , also to keep up with her older sister.

DGD (5) recently told her teacher and all her classmates that her mummy was having a baby.
The first mummy knew about it was when the teacher congratulated her.

I wouldnt make too much fuss at her age. Make it more of a joke. When I was about 8 or 9 my friend's mother was pregnant. So I told people locally that my Mum was expecting a baby too. Bearing in mind this was the 50s and some things were not talked about as openly as they are nowadays, my poor mother couldn't understand why people were watching her so much. After a couple of months she hadnt changed in shape and one nosey neighbour mentioned that Mum wasnt showing much so when was the baby due. I did get a big telling off for that.

I adopted a sibling group and if you had been there you would have witnessed wicked lying at first hand as they grew up.

Not always without consequence. In the 1970s I was a teaching assistant, one of my pupils, a close neighbours grandson, was 6 years old, difficult to deal with and given to fanciful tales. My neighbor and his wife used to take him and his three stepbrothers camping. My neighbour was arrested one night and in custody and imprisoned on child abuse charges. After three weeks he was released without charge after child psychologists ascertained that the lad had made it all up and he did admit to it. Interestingly it was at the time in 1987 when the news was full of Dr Marietta Higgs and the Clevedon child abuse scandals. Sadly my neighbour, now in his mid eighties has never recovered from this and the family are irrevocably split.

I've just heard the best one. DGS just called me to wipe his bottom. He is five so I asked him how he managed at school. He said they have an automatic bottom wiper and proceeded to tell me how it works. He finished by saying "I am telling the truth actually". The phrase he Always ends his imaginings with.

There are some wonderful books about children telling lies about things. One is about what happened on a child's way home. It might be a good idea to get hold of some and read them with her, most children like to imagine things and appreciate that it is sometimes funny. I wouldn't worry about it it passes.

I've come across this with a couple of the children I mind. One was an only child, aged 5, and the other was a child with family difficulties, aged 6.

With the former I treated it with a sense of humour and caught him out a few times, especially when his stories grew arms and legs and became completely fantastical.

The latter was a sadder story. The child was creating a fantasy life for herself.

Most of the time I'd say they grow out of it, especially once they start tripping themselves up.

My best friend at junior school used to tell what my mum and dad called 'elastic stories', they started out as the truth, but then got stretched!

When DD2 was six, we were asked to go to see her class teacher after school. Wondering what on earth had happened, we were questioned by the teacher on the wisdom of allowing our daughter to watch the film Jaws! We were completely shocked and said we would never have allowed that; she then explained hat DD had written in her News Book "We went to see Jaws. It was scary but the best bit was when the man's leg floated up". She had obviously heard older children talking about it and been impressed! Now in her forties, she still looks sheepish when we remind her of it.

My husband gave 6 year old grandson a cuddly toy lemur and made up a voice for it. It told the most amazing exaggerations and lies and it made grandson laugh a lot but cured the tall stories.

I remember when I was at school I think I was about 7yrs old. We had to write about 'what we did in the holidays', which I thought was the teacher being 'nosey'! I told a fantastic tale about how we had done this or that and had a fabulous time. We had actually done nothing at all but I didn't want to be laughed at or felt sorry for.

Children tell lies for lots of reasons. They want attention, they are jealous, they feel left out, they are cross with someone, they don't want to be punished for something. They grow out of it most of the time. I used to put mine on the naughty step which worked with the older two, but the youngest wasn't worried at all. I caught him out one day and on the naughty step he went; After five minutes I felt sorry for him and went to see if he was alright. There he was eating a bar of chocolate he had found in the kitchen cupboard! I had to use other tactics after that. He has grown up to be a lovely boy, you could not wish for better.

Minder ,sometimes they overhear something and add 2+2 to make 10,our wee one heard me sounding off about her mother being late picking her up..not just a few minutes 7 hours!!I said to my OH that if she couldn't be on time in future I would have to reconsider the whole arrangement,we missed a friends renewal of vows because she was so late .The wee one told me she heard me saying she couldn't come to us anymore which I absolutely didn't but it was how she interpreted it.I certainly make sure she's not even in the house if I'm moaning about her mum and her probllem with getting here on time

My granddaughter was 11 (now 12) when she told her Dad (my son) that she was never coming to see me again because I had said she was a vile child and made everyone around her miserable. That is a wicked lie in my book. I sent her a very strongly worded message but did say that I love her and it won't ever be mentioned again. We have always been very close although we live 70 miles apart. Why would she say I had said such a terrible thing. I messaged to wish her luck when she started senior school in September and she didn't reply, I've messaged her a few times saying hi and I messaged her on Christmas Day to say Happy Christmas. I've had no response whatsoever. Now I'm leaving it. If she wants to message me I'll get back to her but I won't get in touch with her again. She does have 'problems' with her temper but only with her Mum and she is definitely 'the boss' at home. My son and dil have been separated for 5 years.

Eldest GD , after a weekend with us, once went home and told her parents we had " forced " ( her word) her to watch Dr. Who .Since we do not watch it we don't know where that came from. She has a very inventive imagination though

I think most kids tell "stories" at some point ,our 7 year old GD who lives half the week with us tells the most hilarious stories which I always listen to with a straight face and then ask her if that was true...sometimes she insists it was ..for all of two minutes and other times she says ,well actually Gran I made it up.Her grandpa says she just likes the sound of her own voice I wouldn't worry or punish for stoorytelling at that age ,its normal and they grow out of it ,well my two did

My girlie, who is now 25, used to tell me about her day. Her life outside the home was exciting and all the people she met, especially other people's mummies, were lovlier and kinder than I was. About five minutes into the narrative I would suddenly twig she was telling me about the day she would have liked to have had. I fell for it every time as I used to feel guilty for being a full time teacher and it was easy to believe everyone else's parents were better than I was.

It was harmless in the long run though I still think there is some perfect and Utopian world where she thinks she should be living!

it's a phase I think lots of children go through humour her and letting her know you don't believe her might make her become a little bored with it all

This thread reminds me of an old joke:
verticallivingministries.com/tag/joke-on-the-walls-of-jericho/
Only as I remember it the boy answered 'It wasn't me sir, it was him' pointing to another boy.

DS2 used to tell whopper too at that age - Now he is the most candid and truthful citizen around.
The funniest was when DH broke his leg playing rugby. His teacher came up to me all sympathetic, saying how terrible it was. Surprised, I thanked her and said that a broken leg wasn't such a big deal. She looked shocked, and said that DS had told her his dad's leg had been eaten by a crocodile... And she believed him!
They grow out of it. Perhaps one of the child's lies could come back and bite her on the bum? That would teach her!

not grandchild but a few years ago my best friends daughter told me that they were moving to France the next day - she'd seen it on a RV programme and thought it looked nice , obviously there were no such plans