Freedom through Honesty

Welcome to the February 2013 Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival: Honesty

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival hosted by Authentic Parenting and Living Peacefully with Children. This month our participants have written about authenticity through honesty. We hope you enjoy this month’s posts and consider joining us next month when we share about Self-Expression and Conformity.

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As parents, we often talk about honesty with our children. We want our children to be honest, upstanding individuals. We want our children to be truthful with us. We want our children to know that whatever happens, they can come to us. There is a lot of talk about children being honest, but when it comes to parents, that seems to go by the wayside. In our society, it is considered acceptable to lie to our children.

There are many reasons people lie to their children. They lie to perpetuate fanciful myths. They lie rather than own their actions. They lie because it seems easier when they are tired or stressed or for a myriad of other reasons. They lie because they are trying to be someone they aren’t. Lies come with a price, though. They eat away at the trust our children have in us. They prevent us from embracing ourselves and being the person we really are.  Lies build a wall.

When we make the decision to be honest in our relationships, we give ourselves the freedom to trust and be trusted. We give ourselves the freedom to not be limited by falsehoods and to explore our own personal growth. Through our honesty, we are free to love and be loved, to grow as we help our children to grow. Through honesty, we are free to be the people we need to be.

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Visit Living Peacefully with Children and Authentic Parenting to find out how you can participate in next month’s Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon February 22 with all the carnival links.)

• A Lie Is A Lie – Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama outlines ten reasons why she believes parents lie to their children on a more than casual bases.
• Telling Truths – Survivor at Surviving Mexico writes about the difficulty in raising a bi-cultural child when cultural norms are not mutually exclusive, specifically in the area of lying.
• Honesty in Illness and Death – Laura at WaldenMommy:Life Behind the Red Front Door writes how she and her husband strive to be open and honest with their Herd of children about tough subjects, especially death.
• Talking Honestly About Death – Amy W. at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work, is glad she chose to be honest with her children about the deaths of their pets, despite her fears of upsetting them.
• Freedom through Honesty – At Living Peacefully with Children, Mandy speaks to how honesty allows us to break free of the chains which bind us.
• Guilty Children? – Jorje of Momma Jorje touches on the many ways lies (and accusations of lies) have impacted her abilities as a parent.
• Choosing Our Words: Everyday Honesty With Children – In her guest post at The Badass Breastfeeder, Alice discusses the importance of being honest with children, even when it seems easier not to.
• Truth/Lies…Accuracy, Honesty…Love – Mari from Honey on the Bum talks about how a shift in perspective helps her deal with inaccurate statements and secrets with her kids.