Why does my son have to believe in the tooth fairy?

[Dixon Carter Lee]

"Santa Claus" I get, it's part of the joy and magic of giving, and it's enchanting, and I've allowed that to drag out. "God" I'm fine with; he can make his own decisions about that when he's older. But for the life of me I can't figure out why I should perpetuate this whole "tooth fairy" lie.

His teeth are starting to come out, and we find ourselves telling him to place the teeth under his pillow and, well, you know the whole deal.

Why are we doing this?

 

[alexandraaah]

Think about how gross and uncomfortable it is to lose a tooth.

When it's hanging by a shred of skin...wiggling back and forth...then, the suggestion to pull it? Uch, tearing flesh to retrieve something that, while a new one will grow in its place, will leave a hole in your mouth for the time being.

I think it's worthy of a quarter.

 

[kotori]

I think it's probably a way to take some of the sting out of losing the teeth. I remember it being a miserable experience, but hey--at least there's the tooth fairy to look forward to.

I guess you could just offer the cash, but that's kind of crass commercialism (speaking of Sanity Clause). Next thing the kid'll be knocking out the cat's teeth for the dough.

 

[riff]

I think it is because you love him and you want for him to have the mysterious and miraculous experience of being a child with parents who love him very much.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

*shuffling feet*

Yeah, I suppose....

 

[lickerish]

Because we try and prolong the magic of childhood for as long as we can.. because we know that not after long, they become adults, and the carefree magic ends shortly thereafter.



I dunno, but this bullshit of grandma and grandpa's house tooth fairy giving out dollar bills.. over my house tooth fairy giving out quarters has gotta stop. My tooth fairy is starting to look cheap

 

[Calamity Jane]

I've never lost a tooth. I always thought the tooth fairy hated me because my teeth simply wouldn't get loose and come out like everyone else's. I've actually only lost 9 baby teeth, and those were pulled to make room for the adult teeth that had already grown in. (shark girl )

Anyway, while that was a nice little ramble down memory lane... my theory is that as long as it's not hurting anyone, let the kids believe what they want. It could be worse.

 

[Rambling Rose]

Here's an idea! Put a handful of Laffy Taffy under his pillow and maybe you'll get lucky and all of the little tyke's teeth will come out at once! Then you can slip a dollar under the pillow and you'll be done with the whole nasty business.

You're makin' memories, babe. That's all. Just makin' memories.

 

[patient1]

I think I'd take an "according to custom" approach to the matter.
I wouldn't make a big deal about it. That way you're not depriving him of being like the other kids, but you're not giving him a big emotional investment either.

 

[Ezzie]

I have a 6 year old who believes in them to an extent. And, the reason I let her do this is because I had to have a tooth removed and it hurt. But, my daughter made me put it under my pillow and I woke up to having her allowance put under my pillow. She said "I know there's no such thing as a tooth fairy but, wasn't it nice to wake up to a surpise like that?" Kids are smarter than most people give them credit for.

And, there's nothing wrong with letting them have some joy in believing in things that don't exist. I still believe in things that aren't out there.... mine are just more grown up beliefs.

 

[alexandraaah]

I've never lost a tooth. I always thought the tooth fairy hated me because my teeth simply wouldn't get loose and come out like everyone else's. I've actually only lost 9 baby teeth, and those were pulled to make room for the adult teeth that had already grown in. (shark girl )

Just got off the line with the Tooth Fairy's people; sources say she didn't like you and that's why she didn't let you lose any teeth.

How can anyone not believe in her with such empirical evidence?

 

[KillerMuffin]

Because even a jaded magician believes that children still need some magic in their lives.

 

[Private Vasquez]

wait...are y'all tryin' to say that the tooth fairy is not real??

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

There's got to be a line somwhere. One the "It's okay to believe" side I have God and Santa Claus and angels, and on the "They're not real, son" side I have leprachuans, ghosts and vampires.
Somewhere in the middle are things like the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Paul Bunyon, and as a parent you have to always decide just how far each thing goes to which side of the spectrum.

 

[lovetoread]

A quarter?

My kids get a dollar each time one falls out.

 

[Mensa]

A QUARTER!?!? You cheap bastards! The least I give is two bucks, I mean if the kid has to endure the trauma of losing teeth, at least make it worthwhile. A QUARTER!?!?

 

[Rambling Rose]

Just what are you trying to imply about Paul Bunyun? Next you'll be debunking Babe the Blue Ox! BLASPHEMER!

 

[kotori]

A QUARTER!?!? You cheap bastards! The least I give is two bucks, I mean if the kid has to endure the trauma of losing teeth, at least make it worthwhile. A QUARTER!?!?

Yeah, but a tooney's only worth, what? A quarter, US?

(Just kidding--love the new fiver, btw. glad they kept sir wilfrid.)

 

[Mensa]

Yeah, but a tooney's only worth, what? A quarter, US?

(Just kidding--love the new fiver, btw. glad they kept sir wilfrid.)

We won't need Monopoly money anymore, we've got the real thing.

 

[Ree]

I have a 6 year old who believes in them to an extent. And, the reason I let her do this is because I had to have a tooth removed and it hurt. But, my daughter made me put it under my pillow and I woke up to having her allowance put under my pillow. She said "I know there's no such thing as a tooth fairy but, wasn't it nice to wake up to a surpise like that?" Kids are smarter than most people give them credit for.

And, there's nothing wrong with letting them have some joy in believing in things that don't exist. I still believe in things that aren't out there.... mine are just more grown up beliefs.

I have to agree with Ezzie. My son told me that there was no such thing as the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny. I told him he was right but that if you don't believe or at least pretend to believe for the benefit of his little sister, neither fictional character will be visiting his room. The Tooth Fairy leaves him the gold dollars and he thinks they are cool to collect. If the state quarters came out more frequently, the Tooth Fairy would leave those but the Federal Reserve didn't ask me about the convenience of release dates. I do have a friend that never taught her children about any of the myths including Santa Clause because she believes that if we lie to them about these characters then they will have a difficult time believing in God. She taught her kids that other families do believe in these particular myths and not to spoil it for others. Each family needs to decide what is best for them. If I had known her before I had my children I might have taken her approach to the myths versus perpetuating them to my kids. Live and learn!

(By the way Ezzie, great daughter you have there!!!)

 

[Guest]

 

[Lady_Sam]

A bit off topic. My friend was in the mall with his son and wife and they were walking past the Easter Bunny. His son is three and in his loudest voice, my friend proceeded to tell his son that that wasn't the Easter Bunny, that it was just a man in a costume and that Santa didn't exist either.


He said it loud enough for the kids and parents in line to hear him.

 

[Starfish]

I decided that I am not perpetuating the myths if I have kids.

Look AJ! (I am going to use it. Thanks!): [TIC]It is fun, magical, mysterious, and exciting. Yeah, great, yooofuckinghoooha.... Till they learn the truth and feel betrayed, and then pout and act all pissy, and then they just resent you. That period is called adolesence. [/TIC]

Here is my decided alternatives to these things....

Christmas is about Jesus and giving. Not getting. Santa is a book character. He is cool, and we'll read the books and watch the shows, but Santa isn't bringing shit to our house at Christmas. Mom and Dad and the kids will buy each other gifts and the other family, but most importantly is bonding we make during the times we make the crafts and the decorating and making our home cozy for the holiday, and then we'll cuddle up and watch the good ole movies about Christmas cheer, and drink cocoa and make cookies.

The tooth fairy will be replaced by the "You get to pick out a new book you want or movie we rent" Fairy.

Easter is tough, but I am not big on the egg bit with the color allergy and for all I know, my kids will have it too. Those plastic eggs you can put prizes in rule. We'll do those, but the kids will know that we hide them. Who ever gets the most eggs will get the first pic of a selection of baskets we'll make up ahead of time. This is given that we have more than one kid, but there is always Grandma's house then.

Other than that, Halloween rules, we'll do that...
And the other holiday's don't have ficticious characters to cling to, so we are in the clear from there.


I want the mystery and magic to come from our adventures as a family, and from books and movies.

 

[lickerish]

*swoon*

I'm in love.

 

[Starfish]

What? You can't love your stalker!



How's things babe?
*muah*