"How Old Am I Now?"

In The Christian Reader, Lynn Austin wrote about an incident which occurred when her son was five years old. It seems he had been looking forward to visiting the local planetarium, but when she and he arrived, they learned that children under age 6 were not admitted.

Mrs. Austin did something that many parents have done. She "adjusted" her child’s age. She convinced her son to pretend that his birthday had already passed and that he was now six. She told him, "If the ticket man asks how old your are, I want you to say, ‘I’m six.’" Getting into the planetarium went smoothly, however, after visiting the planetarium, she and her son planned to visit the adjoining museum. Above the museum door was a sign which read, "Children Under 6 Get In Free." To avoid paying the five dollar fee, she then had to convince her son to forget his pretend birthday.

The consequences of her seemingly innocent deceptions became apparent as they approached the aquarium, their last destination. "Wait a minute, Mom," her son said with a worried look, "How old am I now?"

Maybe this story could have been written about you and your children. "Adjusting" a child’s age to take advantage of price discounts or freebies is not an uncommon thing with some parents. But have you considered what you are teaching your children? I do not know of any parent who tolerates lying from their child. Most all of us have endured "time-outs" or spankings because - at one time or another in our childhood - we were not truthful. Now imagine: you are a child of six who is punished in the morning for lying and, in the afternoon, the same parent who punished you for lying now tells you to "pretend" you are five when the ticket lady asks your age. Talk about mixed messages!

The Bible clearly condemns lying. "These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren." (Proverbs 6:16-19 NKJV). When children are taught to lie in order to gain some advantage, what do you think that child is going to do years later when in a difficult situation? He is going to lie. As parents, we must make sure that we are consistent when rearing our children. If lying is wrong, it is wrong all the time. We cannot leave the impression with our children that - in some situations - to tell a lie is acceptable.