Lying for no gain.

[Shari]

Pc1 has a bottle baby pet. It lives on our back porch.

Gfg2 has been fighting a very bad cold, and I have it, too, so we both stayed home today.

Pc1 just got off work and stopped by to feed the baby. Gfg2 told him he already fed it.

Absolute, utter lie. I can see no gain from this or logical consequence for this.

Ideas?

[TerryJ2]

Beats me. My gfg does this all the time. It's either laziness or a power kick/control thing. Or both.
I usually just make him feed the animals again. Then, if they poop more because they've been fed more, he had to take them out more. Seems like a logical consequence to me.
Wish I could be of more help.

[Dammit Janet]

If I am reading this correctly, little gfg told his older brother that HE had already fed the pet which meant that the poor little thing would end up not getting fed that evening...right? ( I really am not sure what a bottle baby pet is but Im assuming its a baby goat or something like that...lol)

If I have the scenario correct then ya know what...I might be tempted to tell little gfg that I "thought" I had already fed him dinner that night so he didnt need any dinner. Act like you were washing up the dishes and all that. If he starts going on about how he hasnt eaten and how he is hungry...then say something about how the baby hadnt eaten either and when he told his brother that he had fed the baby it would have wondered why it wasnt getting its dinner too.

[rm1976]

Could he be jealous of the pet or PC1? In other words, maybe he either wanted all of PC1's attention, or wanted the pet all to himself? My son was kind of like this with our dog when he was younger. He got mad if the dog laid by me or DH.

[Andy]

Does GFG2 adore his older brother? If so, he may be trying to get older brother think he is grown up to feed the bottle baby (a calf by any chance)? Maybe have older brother sit down and talk to him, "Why did you tell me you feed the baby? Do you know what would happen if I didn't feed him/her because you said you did even though you didn't? That would hurt my feelings very much. I am counting on you to make sure I feed the baby. You can keep track of how many times each day I do so."

If it is about getting attention from big brother, GFG2 will be more open to hearing from brother than you.

[TerryJ2]

Well, I LOL at Janet's response--that would be my gut reaction!
But, being the adult mentor and all I have to admit that Adrianne's is the more educational WTG.

[change]

Both my children lie/lied CONSTANTLY. I don't understand it at all. We call them "lazy lies" when they are about stuff like this. Sorry you are dealing with it too. We've yet to find a solution after 8 years of it. We've tried rewards, consequences, planned ignoring of the lie, etc. No luck.

[witzend]

I think he maybe doesn't get it that animals get hungry the way that people do, and he wanted to do something nice for PC1 because he hasn't been feeling well. It seems to me like these kids believe their lies so easily. He expected you to believe him as well and to admire his good deed. Even though it didn't go beyond intention.

[Shari]

Janet, if he were a pc, that's exactly what I'd do. lol

Problem is, gfg doesn't "get" that the animal feeling hungry as a result of his action is the same as him feeling hungry, then all he seems to understand is that we're mean and won't feed him, and that gets us no where. When I was little, I sometimes told stories to get attention. These guys' bio dad lies like a cur dog on a hot summer day, and 3/4 of the time, I think the man believes them. Gfg1 lied all the time about every little thing, but mostly to attempt to save his skin. Gfg2 just seems to tell lies for no apparent reason lately. Drives me crazy.

By the way, the baby is of a ring-tailed, bandit variety. Pc1 found its mama had been killed and finally found the nest of babies. This was the last one left, so he has "rescued" it. I think my family literally suffers from animal magnetism...animals seem to come to us like dirt to a hoover...

[totoro]

Both K and N have started fibbing... since starting school... N's big one is "I didn't do it", she started the lying first!!! She is the more deceitful one of the 2... I don't know how to get it through to her, that it is not ok. That I would not get mad if she would just not make up stories...