When lying, be emphatic and indignant, thus behaving like your children. William Feather

There is a funny moment when parenting teens. It's the moment when you are more delighted in your ability to outsmart them, to catch them out in a lie, than be angry that they were trying to be sneaky in the first place.

We were at a party the other night and a woman said the principal of their school sat them down at the start of Year 11 and said "If you don't believe your child would ever lie to you, they already are." She continued with how she had believed her child wasn't drinking in the park with her friends. I find this notion hilarious - that kids are going to parks at night for a party, not to drink. If they weren't up to no good, they'd be at a house with a servant bringing them food, and with unlimited options of entertainment. Apparently there are scores of parents who think their kids are going to the park at night and say 'No thanks, none for me...'. This woman expanded that she was shocked when she discovered her child was lying, and the principal's words echoed in her ears. Needs to be said that her husband had been onto it from the beginning...

I too have had moments when I've seen through the story, and been able to catch them out. The most fun as a parent is when you can catch them out by using their lie to manipulate them so they back themselves into a corner. There's no anger, nor even punishment, you both pretend the lie is 'true' but the plan comes unstuck. It's one of the small victories in teen parenting.

However, I'm not naive enough to think that if I've caught them out this time, there haven't been others when they've pulled the wool over my eyes...It's a self righteous fool that says "My child would never...". They usually are the ones that do.

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