Curious what other parents do about lying.. my partner had thrown away the soap in our 8 year old son’s bathroom this weekend and forgot to put a new one. Neither of us have been in there for days and he’s been washing without soap even though we have both asked him several times throughout the last few days if he had washed his hands.. and the reply was always yes.. tonight my partner had gone in there today to wash when he realized… then came out and asked him how he washed his hands and he said with soap and water and asked him to show him the soap… ultimately we said no screens for the night. But I was curious how others handle little lies like this ? Like I don’t think it was malicious but he has always told us when he is out of something so this was just a weird thing for him to be dishonest about…
I don’t tend to do punishments but rather natural consequences that fit the situation. If you want to anything you could have it that he has to have one of his parents watch him wash his hands. He may get sick of it and be more reliable and let him know that is soap hasn’t been replaced, this is where it is kept. Alternatively, you check with him each week if the soap is running low and he gets the replacement out of the cupboard and put it in the bathroom. It also teaches him to be aware of what things are running out in the bathroom and what needs replacing. He’ll become more aware and be able to better manage that in the future.
We have the same issue re cleaning teeth. He’s not doing it to be horrible just that he doesn’t like doing it, so teeth cleaning happens together and the dog gets his teeth cleaned at the same time.