I think I broke my daughter's moral compass

Footage of a young boy telling his dad a big old lie has gone viral recently because the crafty dad played the kid at his own game and taught his son a serious lesson in the process.

The footage made me uncomfortable for a number of reasons, not lest the fact that the father in question mentioned shooting the people who were supposedly getting all up in his son’s business.

Really? Whatever happened to a sternly-worded letter and a classic side-eye at the PTA meeting?

Anyway, watching that clip made me realise how ill-equipped I was to reprimand Ella on honesty.

I mean, in the grand scheme of things my six-year-old knows it’s not OK to lie. It’s less than not OK. It’s wrong, but that doesn’t stop her doing it from time to time

And I’m pretty sure I’m to blame for that.

While berating her for telling a fib, I’ll answer the front door and tell a white lie to the person on my doorstep. Within Ella’s earshot, I‘ll say something blatantly untrue, which while hardly earth shattering, does goes against everything I’ll have taught her mere moments ago.

Ella knows it’s wrong to steal and wouldn’t dream of slipping a bag of chocolate buttons into her pocket after her mum and dad nearly lost their reason the first time she tried it, and yet she watches me casually pop grapes in my mouth as we meander through the fruit and veg aisle.

What kind of mixed messages am I sending her?

We were recently queuing to gain entry to a leisure centre and I ‘reminded’ her that on this occasion she was five years of age, as ‘five and under go free.’ Yes, it was wrong, but tell me you’ve never tried it. She dutifully agreed that she was five despite a whispered reminder that ‘five-year-old’s were babies’ and entry to the centre passed without incident.

But maybe that was because no one questioned us to begin with.

Had the security guard crouched down and asked Ella what age she was, would I have cringed as I watched my daughter go against everything I taught her and lie directly to an adult? On my request, no less.

No, I don’t think I’m setting Ella up for a life of delinquency because I told the raffle ticket seller at the door that I had already made a purchase, nor do I think she’s on the fast track to a life similar to the lovely ladies in Orange Is The New Black  just because her swimming togs sported a 6-7 age tag that day, but I do question my moral compass sometimes.

Mine is undoubtedly a little off, it could probably do with a little shake from time to time, but hers is brand new and squeaky clean and it’s my job to keep it that way.

My ‘Do as I say not as I do’ attitude really isn’t going to fly much longer