We believe in telling our the whole truth to our children even if it makes us uncomfortable. We have a teenage kid. Our belief is derived from our experience of raising our three kids. Our actions provide lessons for our children.

One of our close relatives was detected of terminal illness some months ago. We told our kids the truth. They sat and prayed for the person. They had plenty of questions about the illness, whether the person may die from it etc. We told them the fact, not the whole details, but just enough information to help them handle the shock. They were able to be compassionate and empathetic to the sick person.

Many people think that they protect their children when they hide the truth from them. But we disagree. Kids become uneasy when something is amiss. They have an uncanny habit of finding the uncomfortable things. We are not perfect. We make mistakes. When we acknowledge our mistakes, and we do it every time we make one, they approach us as friends. Saying sorry, for instance, for our mistakes boldly and openly makes our children deal with their own mistakes better. When we tell them the truth they gain strength in handling reality.

We often discuss our issues openly in front of our kids. Sometimes they participate in it and offer suggestions. We encourage them to solve our problems. We seek their ideas even while we attempt to solve them ourselves. They gain confidence in themselves as they see that none of us is perfect. When they hurt us, we tell them so. We have 'discussions' that help us resolve conflicts and move forward as a team. This, in turn, encourages them to express their hurts. Truth prevails, no matter how hurting it could be.

Our kids know a lot more of about drugs, alcohol, marriage, politics, violence, terminal illnesses and addictive behavior than their peers. If we don't tell them the truth they will learn wrong things from wrong sources.