At breakfast one morning, then 4-year-old Stephen Cardone, of Stamford, CT, told his mother an amazing story about his previous day's camp activities. While his counselors watched, he said, he removed his swimming bubble, jumped off the edge of the pool, and swam underwater all the way to the other side.

His mom knew that, as precocious as he was, Stephen could not have performed such an aquatic feat. In fact, she thought as she stood in the kitchen looking at her angelic son, he's been telling a lot of tall tales lately.

Kids lie. There's no doubt about it. And there's nothing unusual about it either: Child-development experts say that lying is as much a part of growing up as losing teeth or learning to share.

From flights of fancy to plays for power, kids fib for a number of reasons. "Like adults, children often lie to get out of trouble or because they want their own way," says Don Fleming, Ph.D., author of How to Stop the Battle With Your Child.

Where your child is developmentally will determine the kinds of lies you're likely to hear, and how you should respond to them. As they get older and gain some independence, most children outgrow the behavior, provided they have proper role models and gentle guidance toward truthfulness.

Andrea Atkins's last feature for Parenting was "The 10 Trickiest Questions Kids Ask  -- and How to Answer Them."

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