DO YOU LIE ABOUT THE TOOTH FAIRY? TICHINA DOES
We’ve all heard of the tooth fairy and some of us at one time or another believed in the tooth fairy when we were younger. So what harm is there in lying to our kids about the mythical character? Actress Tichina Arnold doesn’t see any harm in lying about the fictitious character, but she doesn’t know if she should continue to lie to her daughter Alijah,4, either…. As told by Tichina Arnold:
While I was pregnant, I promised myself that if my child did not get encouraged by other children to believe in fictitious characters, then neither would I. That would be one less thing I would have to deal with. I am eating those words now. It was ME that TOLD Alijah about the Tooth Fairy in the first place! She never asked me about it. I volunteered that information AND made up a whole story behind it.
I figured out my rationalization behind it though. I realized that I never believed in the Tooth Fairy, but as a child, I still wanted to have that feeling of waking up in the morning with free money underneath my pillow so that I can run to the candy store and buy some penny candy. I had an over crowed mouth, full of crooked teeth, so I KNEW I would get PAID!
Luckily my daughter is not that into imaginary people, but I want her to experience some of those childhood things I missed out on. Alijah has known there is no such thing as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny since the age of 3, because she did the same thing I did and asked me if they were real.
I make it a habit not to lie to my daughter. Things that she is not ready to know or just handle yet, I take the time to explain and make the promise to tell her when she is older and READY to understand.
So here we are, believing and fantasizing about the Tooth Fairy. I wonder how long it will last? Oh well, I guess I can Thank God that Alijah does not have my crooked tooth gene. otherwise, I’ll be broke by the time she is 12!
Me too…its no harm done…it makes the kids excited about missing their teeth…my child lost his tooth at school and I still put half of what I originally put under his pillow..just so he knows the tooth fairy wouldn’t forget about him…we can tell them the truth later LOL
Me too…its no harm done…it makes the kids excited about missing their teeth…my child lost his tooth at school and I still put half of what I originally put under his pillow..just so he knows the tooth fairy wouldn’t forget about him…we can tell them the truth later LOL
BTW I love your blog!
co-sign yes. As long as they believe we can too. My aunt brought my daughter this beautiful black tooth fairy doll. And my daughter is going on 12 and she just lost her last three baby teeth 3 months ago.
I think that it depends on the child…b/c how I grew up(other issues) I was pissed that they lied to me. And I think that a parent should explain thoroughly WHY they make up these fairy tales… my mother just laughed @ me when she told me that the tooth fairy wasn’t real. And santa. And the easter bunny. She stole my innocence by shrugging it off. Its every parents choice whether or not to do this but if u do be sure to give ur child an appropriate explanation when the time comes. The will respect u 4 it. Trust me. As 4 me I choose to keep it funky wit my twins and tell them the truf from front street…to each their own.
I’m honest with him. No tooth fairy, no santa claus, and no easter bunny. Im honest with my kids.
I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY WITH YOU. MY KIDS NEVER EVER BELIEVED IN SANTA CLAUS, TOOTH FAIRY, EASTER BUNNY,ETC. AT CHRISTMAS WHY SHOULD SOME FAT WHITE MAN GET THE CREDIT FOR BUYING ALL THIER TOYS WHEN I SPENT MY HARD EARNED MONEY FOR THEM? THEY KNEW THAT EVERYTHING THEY GOT WAS FROM THEIR PARENTS! WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LYING TO CHILDREN WHEN THEY ARE GOING FIND OUT THE TRUTH ANYWAY. WE CAN LIT TO THEM AND TELL THEM ABOUT SANTA CLAUS WHEN THEIR IS NO SUCH THING, BUT WE CANNOT TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS WHO IS ALIVE AND REAL. (MAKES YOU GO HMMMMMMMM……)
OMG (G is for goodness!), Champagne, I am so with you! I adopted this idea in college way before I ever thought about having kids. I adopted this theory from a college friend of mine who told me this was the reasoning behind why her parents told her the truth about Santa Claus. My kids are ages 5-15 and I get slack from it from folks who ask them about Santa Claus, but I don’t care. I’d rather them know the truth. Besides, I am a single parent and I never wanted them to think that if they didn’t get what they wanted it was because they were bad or didn’t deserve it.
I don’t think it’s about lying to your kids, its about imagination. I had to use my imagination to tell my daughter when her tooth fell out during the week, that the tooth fairy only works on weekends…LOL, when I got busted is when the truth came out.
Alot of us grew up believing in santa and the easter bunny and all that, and its just tradition that we carry on with our children, my daughter wasnt crushed when she found out there wasnt no santa and all that other stuff…LOL
My father refused to let us think there was another man coming into his home bringing his 6 daughter’s gifts. He was so over protected and a lil coo-coo from the military……LOL!!!! Seriously off the break he told us there is no such thing as Santa, Tooth Fairy or Easter Bunny. I use to catch my mom putting money under my pillow anyway. I followed my father’s ways with my daughter but not my son. The other kids already planted it in his head that there was Santa.
My kids no longer believe in Santa but I do let them continue to think the tooth fairy exists. “She” even has email so I can let her know to come back by the house to pick up the tooth when she ‘mysteriously’ forgets to come by the first time and retrieve it. (oops..I fell asleep actually). The thing about the tooth fairy is inflation. My kids get about $2 a tooth these days…thank goodness they are pretty much done with the baby teeth. lol…
Will they be crushed when they find out it was me? Why should they be? They got PAID IN FULL. Whats to complain about? smile
She took the same approach I did. I let him believe until he asked me. I didn’t tell him, but of course, the media and other kids did. I also taught him not to ruin it for other kids, and just let them have their fun. I told him if adults asked him what “Santa” brought him, just go along with it and know they are referring to me. Even though he doesn’t believe, he still gets one gift from “Santa”, it’s just a part of the holiday to me. We still use “Tooth Fairy” too. I look at all of them(Santa, Tooth fairy, Easter Bunny etc…)as personifications, just like we use Uncle Sam for the government.