Is There a Little Pinocchio in All of Us?

Kids Learn Early of the Value of a Little While Lie

Or they are told never to lie, and then they get in a whole mess of trouble when they admit that the pool of water near the dog dish really didn't come from the dog. And in most cases, they've probably heard a parent lie just to spare the feelings of a friend. So it's likely that kids learn early of the value of a little white lie.

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"Children start lying when they are about two," Heyman said. "Do they understand it's a lie? It gets messy" because growing up is filled with contradictions.

Heyman was around 5 when she caught her parents in what to her was a really big lie. Her kindergarten classmates got into a discussion of the tooth fairy, and as it turns out there were a few cynics in the crowd.

"My parents would tell us all these stories about the tooth fairy and all the things she did and I loved it," she said. "I was very excited about it, and then some of the kids in my kindergarten class were saying there is no tooth fairy. I had to defend the tooth fairy, and the more I talked, the more I realized that it didn't make sense."

So that evening she confronted the Big Guy, old dad.

"I was really sad, and I told him there is no tooth fairy, is there," she added. "Then he told me the truth, and I remember thinking I could never believe what he said again."

A five-year-old cynic? Kids learn early. Maybe there really is no such thing as a little white lie.

But say you will never tell one and you'll be lying.