Supernanny Rules

Little White Lies or Absolute Truth?

by Gayla McCord on February 26th, 2008

Last night I watched a new reality style game show “The Moment of Truth.”  The show was like watching a car crash in progress.  The more valuable the winning pot became, the more painful and damaging the questions became to the contestant and their loved ones.

This show really disturbed me.  In fact, this is the second time I’ve written about it and probably won’t be the last.  It just seems so wrong on so many levels.

While I try to teach my children that the truth is always the best policy, I believe I’ve done a good job in teaching them when it’s best to opt for telling a little white lie and when to tell the absolute truth.

There have been times when I’ve seen my boys shovel down food that’s been prepared for us and pay compliments afterward only to find out they were doing their best not to make horrible faces in the process.

There have been times when my kids have received a Christmas gift that they may already have, they kindly thank the person, point out all the wonderful things about the gift and never tell the truth out of respect and special care to not hurt someone’s feelings.

This brings me to my question — do you think it’s ok to teach your children to tell little white lies to spare someone’s feelings or do you think kids should be taught to tell the truth regardless of how painful the truth might be?

Personally, I’d rather not hurt anyone’s feelings - ever!

Share This

Related Stories

• Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies
• A Supernanny Holiday, #5: The Question of Santa
• I’ve spent 30 years plotting my revenge
• Should your teen’s cell phone have GPS tracking?
• Childhood Experiences Mold Nanny Selection Process for Oscar Winning Actress

POSTED IN: Parenting, Relatives