Honesty

I love the talks I have with my daughter, after her lights go out and before I leave her room.

Tonight she was asking if it is OK sometimes for her to have secrets. I told her that was OK. I realize that she's old enough to start wanting to keep some of her thoughts private. I told her it isn't OK to lie to people, but it is OK not to tell them everything.

Then she pressed the point about lying. She argued that sometimes it's OK to lie, or at least to stretch the truth. I agreed, that it's OK to stretch the truth, or even to lie a little bit, but only when it's to protect someone's feelings. She agreed that it's OK in that situation, but also to protect unicorns. And I had to agree. It's also OK to lie a little to protect unicorns.