(2.) The lie of evasion is a form of lying which seldom appears when the relations between child and parents are absolutely friendly and open.  However, the child who is very desirous of approval may find it difficult to own up to a fault, even when he is certain that the consequence of his offense will not be at all terrible.  This is the more difficult, because the more subtle condition.  It is obvious that the child who lies merely to avoid punishment can be cured of that fault by removing from him the fear of punishment.  To this end, he should be informed that there will be no punishment whatever for any fault that he freely confesses.  For the chief object of punishment being to make him face his own fault and to see it as something ugly and disagreeable, that object is obviously accomplished by a free and open confession, and no further punishment is required.

But when the child in spite of such reassurance still continues to lie, both because he cannot bear to have you think him capable of wrong-doing, and because he is not willing to acknowledge to himself that he is capable of wrong-doing, the situation becomes more complex.  All you can do is to urge upon him the superior beauty of frankness; to praise him and love him, especially when he does acknowledge a fault, thus leading him to see that the way to win your approval—­that approval which he desires so intensely—­is to face his own shortcomings with a steady eye and confess them to you unshrinkingly.

[Sidenote:  The Politic Lie]

(3.) The politic lie is of course the worst form of lying, partly because it is so unchildlike.  This is the kind of fault that will grow with age; and grow with such rapidity that the mother must set herself against it with all the force at her command.  The child who lies for policy’s sake, in order to achieve some end which is most easily achieved by lying, is a child led into wrong-doing by his ardent desire to get something or do something.  Discover what this something is, and help him to get it by more legitimate means.  If you point out the straight path, and show the goal well in view, at the end of it, he may be persuaded not to take the crooked path.

[Sidenote:  Inherited Crookedness]

But there are occasionally natures that delight in crookedness and that even in early childhood.  They would rather go about getting their heart’s desire in some crooked, intricate, underhanded way than by the direct route.  Such a fault is almost certain to be an inherited one; and here again, a close study of the child’s relatives will often help the mother to make a good diagnosis, and even suggest to her the line of treatment.

[Sidenote:  Extreme Cases]