When my daughter asked me why it was embarrassing that former New York governor Eliot Spitzer was involved with a cowgirl ring, I didn't hesitate. "Bad lariat tricks," I explained. She looked a little confused, but let it drop. I know that I'm not supposed to lie to my kid, but I didn't feel like explaining prostitution to a 7-year-old. But it is hardly the first whopper I've told my child, and it got me thinking about how I really feel about hon-esty as a policy. Over the years, I have concoctec elaborate tales of how the Easter Bunny finds us even when we're on vacation in Florida. I have artfully dodged questions about where babies come from and proclaimed my child's half-hearted scribblings works of genius.
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