Distrust

 Question:

My 4.5 year old distrusts everything we say although we never lie to him. He argues every time we say anything, insisting that we are lying.

Answer:

That’s a very smart 4.5 year old. Sounds like he’s been lied to before, not by you but by someone else. And that he was hurt, and that caused him to distrust anyone. It sounds like he is scared and confused, and doesn’t know what to believe anymore because he’s trust has been betrayed. 

Perhaps try telling him that some people do lie, but not mommy and daddy, and not this family, and see whether he can argue with that. Perhaps he will, and show you instances of the time when someone did lie to him. Then you know where it came from and deal with it.

If nothing comes up, you can continue with statements that ‘Christians are not supposed to lie either’. And see if anything comes up then.