approval which he desires so intensely--is to face his own
shortcomings with a steady eye and confess them to you unshrinkingly.

[Sidenote: The Politic Lie]

(3.) The politic lie is of course the worst form of lying, partly
because it is so unchildlike. This is the kind of fault that will grow
with age; and grow with such rapidity that the mother must set herself
against it with all the force at her command. The child who lies
for policy's sake, in order to achieve some end which is most easily
achieved by lying, is a child led into wrong-doing by his ardent
desire to get something or do something. Discover what this something
is, and help him to get it by more legitimate means. If you point out
the straight path, and show the goal well in view, at the end of it,
he may be persuaded not to take the crooked path.

[Sidenote: Inherited Crookedness]

But there are occasionally natures that delight in crookedness and
that even in early childhood. They would rather go about getting their
heart's desire in some crooked, intricate, underhanded way than by the
direct route. Such a fault is almost certain to be an inherited one;
and here again, a close study of the child's relatives will often help
the mother to make a good diagnosis, and even suggest to her the line
of treatment.

[Sidenote: Extreme Cases]

In an extreme case, the family may unite in disbelieving the child who
lies, not merely disbelieving him, when he is lying, but disbelieving