I overheard two co-workers talking this a.m. Co-worker No. 1 was telling the other that his son lost his first tooth. Co-worker No. 2 said something about the tooth fairy. Co-worker No. 1 said, "We don't really do that. It's sort of silly and we just don't have it in us to lie to him like that."
My ears perked up and I gave a silent cheer. I thought I was alone. I thought it was just me who thinks that perpetuating made-up holiday characters is just stupid and....in a way...kind of cruel.
Now, I let my kids believe in the Tooth Fairy -- we have the tooth fairy pillow and everything -- and I'm not out there destroying their Christmas and telling them that Santa isn't real, but...when they are old enough to figure out the truth for themselves, I'm not going to lie. And, I'm not going to the lengths that some parents do to "keep the magic alive."
I don't think there's any magic in lying to my kids. Seriously...wouldn't I just be setting them up for a BIG fall some day?
I know what you're thinking -- you're thinking I'm some psychologically damaged kid who went through life with cruel parents who deprived me of holiday joy. Wrong. My mother has holiday spirit up the wazoo -- she's even got holiday-theme shower curtains, toilet seat covers and bedspreads (I'm not even kidding). And, when I was growing up, my Mom did all that stuff that parents do -- she wrapped Santa's gifts in different paper, had a friend at work write the tags so we wouldn't know she was Santa, she hid the Easter baskets and pretended not to know where they were, she dutifully stayed up until God-knows-when to sneak into our rooms and exchange a quarter for a baby tooth....
But, the thing is...I don't ever remember buying into it. Maybe it's because I had four older siblings and one of them told me there was no Santa or Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy...who knows...I don't remember who -- if anyone -- ever destroyed the "magic" for me.
I just know that I always knew that the source of ALL the good things in our house were my parents.
I think that's magical enough.
Comments (1)
THANK YOU!
I honestly think that my mother is still under the impression that I believe. My parents went to great lengths to make everything so magical... and MY GOD I was probably the only kid in the 4th grade still believeing just a little bit... because my parents were ALWAYS right. My friend Nicki (from church) told me one day infront of my mother that she helped her parents with Johnny's Christmas presents from Santa, and my mother wipped her head around so fast... it was like something from The Exorcist... she flipped the shiznit at that chick... and to this day I still think she is mad at her for telling me that there was no Santa... of course, even after that, Mom still kept it going... and I played along... just to make her happy... IT WAS SO ANNOYING! When you're little, it's cute... when you're being mocked by your peers because your household still "believes" that's just tourmentation.
Posted by Michelle F. | March 17, 2008 9:36 PM
Posted on March 17, 2008 21:36