One thing we sometimes do is give DD a do-over of sorts. She tends to lie impulsively out of panic and then commit SERIOUSLY to the lie for fear of losing face/having to admit it. If I think this has happened, I can SOMETIMES send her out of the room to "think about it a little more" for 10 minutes (no fuss must be made over the initial lie) and then ask her again and get the truth. SOMETIMES.
Yes..this too. We try to give an out. DD7 will sometimes tell the lie and proceed to tell an entire story and plead her case (this is usually what gives her away - when she tries too hard at it). We wait patiently and after she is done we tell her we have listened to her "story" and want to give her some time to really think about it. She needs to decide what is the truth. She can stick with what she has told us or not - her decision, but if she is lying she will be in trouble no matter what. If she tells the truth she may or may not be in trouble depending on what happened in the first place and less trouble than if she lies.
