Should you tell your kids?

I ponder questions about my future as a mom. I often wonder with my tendency to be blunt all the time, will I decide to tell my kids that there is a Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus? What is the right thing to do? On one hand there is fantasy and fun surrounding these mythical stories, but what does it teach kids if they learn that we have been lying to them all these years?

I suppose from a tier of importance, Santa Claus has the most weight. If he is capable of bringing every child around the world a gift all in one night, while riding a sleigh, and going down any houses with chimneys, well that is not a loaded lie! Oh, and about the chimney, the man is fat. And, he has a reindeer with a red light at the end of his nose. How many lies has that added up? 5 so far. I am sure if we really looked at the story, we could count many more.

The Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy carry much less weight from the lie factory. For Easter, the bunny hides eggs. That does not seem so far-fetched. Bunnies dig holes, it could be possible. Was the Easter Bunny a boy or a girl? I am not sure I ever learned where the Easter Bunny comes from, and I do not think I learned how the Easter Bunny was connected to the resurrection of Jesus. Probably did not matter, because all I remembered about Easter was wearing a hideous “Easter” dress from my grandma, going to church, having brunch, and finding our easter basket. A regular Sunday, except for more candy, and a poopy Sunday dress.

Now the Tooth Fairy. I assumed the Tooth Fairy was a girl, probably out of the process of elimination that a fairy was never a boy when I was a kid. I had a hand-me-down tooth pillow, that I put under my pillow when I lost my tooth. I never found it odd that the Tooth Fairy had to lift my head to get the pillow, remove the tooth, and leave my half-dollar, all without my waking up. I have heard very different accounts of what friends received for a tooth, but we got 50 cents in the fancy form of a half-dollar. Calculating that I have 28 teeth, not counting the four wisdom teeth pulled a few years ago (I know everyone might have different amounts), that equals $14 on me. Of the three fictional characters I would say the Tooth Fairy wins. Over the course of a few years of my life, they only spent $14. If there is only one Tooth Fairy, then how come other kids received $20 a tooth (about $560 total). Does the Tooth Fairy play favorites?

I digress. I started this blog to discuss whether to lie to my future children or not. The verdict is still out. I know I sound like a heartless future mom, but I have strong beliefs about not lying to my children. I wonder if I can find a way to go along with the charade, while also telling them the truth. Tell them it is make believe and we can play along together.

What do you think?

4 thoughts on “Should you tell your kids?”

This is a cultural/religious aspect. It is not about a truth or lie, its more to do with a thought, why it was evolved as a concept andhow it effects society , in a nut shell..which means..you will have to present it as a concept or a norm, that was and is prevalent ..then trace it back to the origin. Give few discussions about good and bad..and also the most important part is..I feel…that we all love stories or fiction..to relate..now that is not like living a lie..its for inspiration or entertainment…

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Well, I wouldn’t say we stick to all of the above lies. We’re using these holidays and events to encourage our kids to be trend-setters. Hopefully they’ll learn how to convince others of how the holidays SHOULD be. You know?

• For instance, we’ve taught all there is to know about Fairy Claus and the teeth he (not enough male fairies) puts in your stocking. It’s some sort of cross-promotional thing he’s working on with a buddy.
• There’s the Tooth Bunny – a creepy, chubby, slow bunny with the alcohol-warmed, red cheeked face of an old man. He breaks into your home and takes your teeth and uses them for his cereal (don’t wake up!).

Let’s see here. I’m forgetting something. OH!

• The Pilgrim of St. Valenhallow’s Eve. This one is the most difficult to convince them of and nearly impossible to pull off. As the story goes, The Pilgrim of St. Valenhallow would come out at 3am every 6th Tuesday of the odd months, look for a rainbow to hide candy corns in and light off fireworks while eating heart-shaped bread slices dipped in warm milk with a side of turkey and stuffing. It’s a special time.

I’m a dork. This post is great, though. Got me thinking (hard to tell, right?) about my childhood and my own kids. Thank you!

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