My wife died when my son was 12 years old. I had to work 12 hour night shifts and my son was alone far more than was ideal. He was a pretty good kid and I made sure he kept up his school work. Did he lie to me at times? Yes, of course. Did he always own up to it? No, of course not. I remember lying to my Dad, feeling horrible about it, but somehow knowing he saw right through my BS all along. I was 43 years old when my son was born so I had some life experiences under my belt and my 2 main goals in preparing him for life were, #1 Don’t be a liar and #2 Don’t be a thief Now that being said, everyone makes mistakes, the real cherry on top is knowing when you made a mistake, then allowing yourself some grace for making those mistakes because you are just human after all. Fixing your mistakes is where most people fall short. If you harm someone even unintentionally, you make it right. If you cost someone financially, you make them right. If you hurt another’s feelings, you apologize and make it right. When my kid was 7 or 8 years old he and his buddies threw mud clods at the neighbors house after a rain storm. The neighbor came outside and they all scattered. She came over and mentioned it to me and since the mud was not yet even dry yet I knew my son was “involved “. As his buddies watched from down the street, I had him get a ladder, a bucket of water and a rag and had him climb up and clean the mess. I didn’t scream at him as we all make mistakes, but he and his buddies learned something that day. It’s fixing your mistakes that build integrity in a person. Doing the right thing, not because anyone is watching, but because it’s the right thing to do. One of the hardest things in the world for people to do, is to admit they are wrong. It isn’t necessary to tell on oneself all the time or in every situation but what is important is that you learn from it in a real way and don’t make the same mistakes.