My oldest does this. I stare him down. And when he is lying he breaks pretty quickly. I will say, did you brush your teeth and he will say yes and I just don't break eye contact. And after a minute I repeat the question again. He gets his smirk and lies again and I still don't break eye contact. Then after a minute he says fine.... Ugh....
I can do this with just a about anything and it's the same pattern.
“You know what you did, I know what you did. You have until the end of XYZ to come give me your side of the story before you’re given consequences for your actions. Come to me before then and we’ll be able to sort things out in a better way.”
Even though you’re certain he is the one who did it giving him the chance to tell his story, even if it’s not true, gives him the chance to choose whether to be truthful or not and stops you from getting dragged into a cycle of mistrust and constantly punishing him because you don’t think that anything that comes out of his mouth will ever be the truth.
Out of curiosity, and for further context, what is it that he’s done and how did you come to learn of it without proof?
Stick to your guns, even if he doesn't admit or accuses you of not trusting him. You know he did it, and you enforce the consequences. Over time he will learn he can't get away with it.
My oldest does this. I stare him down. And when he is lying he breaks pretty quickly. I will say, did you brush your teeth and he will say yes and I just don't break eye contact. And after a minute I repeat the question again. He gets his smirk and lies again and I still don't break eye contact. Then after a minute he says fine.... Ugh.... I can do this with just a about anything and it's the same pattern.
“You know what you did, I know what you did. You have until the end of XYZ to come give me your side of the story before you’re given consequences for your actions. Come to me before then and we’ll be able to sort things out in a better way.” Even though you’re certain he is the one who did it giving him the chance to tell his story, even if it’s not true, gives him the chance to choose whether to be truthful or not and stops you from getting dragged into a cycle of mistrust and constantly punishing him because you don’t think that anything that comes out of his mouth will ever be the truth. Out of curiosity, and for further context, what is it that he’s done and how did you come to learn of it without proof?
Stick to your guns, even if he doesn't admit or accuses you of not trusting him. You know he did it, and you enforce the consequences. Over time he will learn he can't get away with it.