Between Imagination and Lie

We went to the mall last weekends. I was with my mom and Seandy. We stopped by to eat first, since Seandy’s already craving for his favorite pizza. Afterwards, we started to stroll in the mall. Seandy got excited when he saw the Jollibee Standee. He let go of my hands and went straight to Jollibee. I told my mom to hide because I wanted to teach Seandy a lesson.

After a few seconds, my son noticed that he is no longer with us. He ran back to Pizza Hut and tried to check if we were there. When he saw that we were not there, that is when he started to panic and started to cry. I was just behind him all along, so before he could make any sound, I immediately approached him and told him that it was not good to let go of my hand when inside the mall because he might get lost.

He then told me a story way different from what had just happened. He said that he got lost and he tried to look for us. When he could not find us, the guards approached him and told him that they will take him with them since he is alone. But, he told them, “No, I will just look for my mom here.” That is when I appeared.

I did not know what to react when he told me that. I couldn’t believe my ears. When we went home I told my husband what happened and told him the version of the story of our son. He immediately told me to talk to Seandy. He said that our son is beginning to tell a lie and should be corrected as soon as possible. I agree that we have to remind our son not to tell lies.

But on second thoughts, Barney and Einstein are encouraging us to use our imagination. What if my son was not lying? What if he was just using his vivid imagination? How could you establish the facts between imagination and lie?