Thinking My Niece Is a Compulsive Liar.

Color blindness and what she ate for dinner - no big deal. Fake families - more of a red flag. Tells you she lies to her parents - she's testing you and challenging you to see if you will inform her parents. Her parents need to be told not just about her "fabrications" but also they need to monitor her on-line activities including Facebook.

Talk to her about the dangers of putting herself "out there" and also ask her why she feels the need to lie. See if she's looking for attention or doesn't think she's interesting enough the way she is. That's different from being a compulsive liar. In any case, her parents need to get involved.

Any "fake" post online alarms me. It's just not a path she should be going down and underscores the fact that she's not mature enough for a Facebook page.

It seems some middle school kids (usually girls) start telling tales. My daughter has known one and I remember a few from my own childhood. The thing is those same kids were also involved in stealing and later on worse stuff.

Your niece is "asking" for attention in that clumsy, indirect way that adolescent kids do. I would delicately try to speak to my sister about it if I were you. These things have a way of escalating and she is almost a teen. If she doesn't already have one she NEEDS a positive, open and very honest relationship with her Mom. Lots of time spent talking now will pay off in the future.

I'm thinking your sister needs to start spending more time with her daughter and giving her lots of positive attention.

Red flags with the inappropriate Internet usage. Her parents need her password. You need to tell them what's going on. One day she's going to tell the wrong lie to the wrong guy.

I know exactly how you feel! My 15 year old sister has lived with me for almost 3 years now and she has lied about stuff the whole time shes lived with me. I have gotten calls, text, and messages from her friends from school telling me she tells them I've hit her, my fiancé abuses her, and makes up lies about having boyfriends. I have seen it on her phone, computers, anything. I have confronted her being calm and flipping out on her. I don't think flipping out was the best thing to do being that I have 2 children of my own but when she was telling lies about me and my fiancé and it puts our young kids at risk I cant handle it. We treat her just like one of our own. Her mother is not in the picture and hasn't been for about 9 years and our dad has been battling cancer, not working, and surgery for multiple things (that is why she lives with me). I had talked to her doctor at her last appointment and she referred us to therapy which seems to be helping. I would say its more of a cry for attention. Since my sisters mother hasn't been in her life for years and our dad has been sick shes wanting the attention he gave her since she is the baby of the family. I would say to talk to your sister whens she gets home from vacation and if its something your sister cant sit down and talk to her about then maybe some kind of therapy might work.

I'm sorry, why does a 12 year old have a Facebook account? The guidelines of Facebook clearly state that you have to be 13 or older. That's the first thing.

Second, why didn't Mom take her on vacation with her? It's not that big of a deal, DH and I are getting ready to take a vacation without our four. But if the girl is making things up in order to get attention it's because she's not getting it at home.

It sounds like she's doing it all for attention however you look at it. I dont know what kind of relationship you have with your sister, but you should talk to her about this and let her know what you have been noticing. Out of concern, and love for your niece, and sister, you need to. She's at that age where seeking for attention could easily turn into bad attention from the wrong people.

Best wishes.

Pray the "few days" pass quickly?
It's a babysitting stint.
Not sure you can "do" anything, really.
If her lies directly affect your families health or safety, pass along the info to your sister.
Otherwise, I don't think it's your place to tackle this.
If you're aware she's a compulsive liar after a couple of days, ill bet her mom knows too.
HTH

nothing cuss she's not your daughter. kids do that any way. she's just having fun

1.people,the little girls mom might have a reason not to bring her daughter with her,maybe her sister is on her honeymoon or something.2.Tell her mother.She maybe just wants some attention.

Actually that is a heck of lot safer than telling the truth. I'm not encouraging lying in everyday life, but on the internet you have a lot of different safety issues. Too many nuts can find out where you go to school, where you live, how old you really are, etc. etc. if you are accurate with information... We are adults who don't know eachother, but there are very real child predators out there who are looking for vulnerable young people. You can have a discussion with her about fact and fiction, but I'm taking the side of safety and after attending many classes on internet safety of course the best thing would be to never be on it. The next best thing is to avoid giving out too much information. Which ethically what she is doing is not right. But might be safer Good luck!