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The tooth fairy and other lies I tell my kid
Filed under: Big Kids
Ellie lost four baby teeth last year. That gave me four opportunities to lie to her. Every time a tooth fell out, she expected a visit from the tooth fairy. And I did not disappoint. Deep down, I think she knows it's just a pretend game we play to make losing teeth more fun. But neither of us has admitted to knowing the true identity of the person who takes her little lost teeth away and replaces them with a dollars under her pillow.
I vividly recall the day I learned that Santa Claus didn't really exist. I was the youngest of three kids and my older siblings were more than happy to put an end to that little fantasy when I was 5 years old. Besides being heartbroken that the jolly giver of gifts wasn't real, I was confused as to why my mother, an otherwise honest person, let me believe he was.
Easter is approaching and with it the Easter Bunny. Hiding eggs and watching Ellie hunt for them is fun. What's not fun, at least for me, is pretending a large bunny came by sometime during the night and hid them. When she was younger, it didn't really bother me to play this game with her. Maybe because I knew she would never remember the lie coming out of my mouth. But as she gets older and understands more about the real world, I feel guilty for doing it. Am I not sending the message that sometimes it is okay to lie to little kids? I know the lies are well-meaning, but they are still lies.
I vividly recall the day I learned that Santa Claus didn't really exist. I was the youngest of three kids and my older siblings were more than happy to put an end to that little fantasy when I was 5 years old. Besides being heartbroken that the jolly giver of gifts wasn't real, I was confused as to why my mother, an otherwise honest person, let me believe he was.
Easter is approaching and with it the Easter Bunny. Hiding eggs and watching Ellie hunt for them is fun. What's not fun, at least for me, is pretending a large bunny came by sometime during the night and hid them. When she was younger, it didn't really bother me to play this game with her. Maybe because I knew she would never remember the lie coming out of my mouth. But as she gets older and understands more about the real world, I feel guilty for doing it. Am I not sending the message that sometimes it is okay to lie to little kids? I know the lies are well-meaning, but they are still lies.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
3-13-2007 @ 1:39PM
Ann Adams said...I don't know. I've played the Santa game, the tooth fairy game, and the Easter bunny ritual through 3 generations of kids now and I've never known one to be traumatized. That doesn't mean that some kids won't be though.
Then again, we treated it as a game to have fun with and never as a big production.
I've said before the kids have probably been humoring me at least for the last couple of years.
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3-13-2007 @ 1:50PM
Cassie Lyn said...I have my fears about that too but looking back I would rather be in the same game as all my friends and get my heart broken later on in life than know Santa wasn't rea and not join in the fun of believing in this imagernary world. Knowing that I wasn't the only kid who fell for it makes the whole thing fun and not an insult. So I will carry on the tradition with my children so they can have the same fun game to play as everyone else.
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3-13-2007 @ 11:12PM
SKL said...What I remember about Santa is the loving way in which my parents experienced the wonder of Christmas with me. If I was unhappy when I learned there was no Santa, it was because we could no longer share those special moments of magical excitement. But, I still had younger siblings with whom I could share the magic. I wouldn't trade any of those moments for anything.
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3-14-2007 @ 1:00AM
matt said...You should be glad you get to spend enough time with her to be able interact with her, on this level.
i am lucky if my daughters mother will even let me talk to her on the phone, I havent talked to her in two weeks)
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