It’s that time of the year. The holiday season is approaching! But also approaching is the dreaded question. Yes, you know the one. “Mom, is Santa real?”
It’s hard to answer! Maybe you go for the classic, “What do you think?” But if that isn’t cutting it, one mom on TikTok might have found the perfect response.
“I think I accidentally discovered my best parenting hack this morning when my four year old asked me if the tooth fairy was real,” said KC Davis, @domesticblisters, shared to TikTok.
Davis, who is most famous for her content about cleaning and keeping home, found herself in a predicament familiar to most parents: you don’t really want to crush your kid’s dreams, but at the same time, they’ve asked you a direct question.
“I’m pretty big about answering questions honestly, especially direct questions that my kids ask me, but I also don’t want to spoil magic things for them if they’re not ready to move on,” she said.
So, what did she do? She simply asked a question back.
“In a stroke of genius, I said, ‘Do you want the magic answer or the grownup answer?’ And she said, ‘The magic answer please.’ I said, ‘Yes! The tooth fairy is real.’”
It’s really as simple as that! Kids are often way smarter than we give them credit for. If they’re asking, they probably know the answer. But, if they want the opportunity to hang on to another year or two of childhood joy, why not let ‘em.
Parents in the comments loved Davis’ take, and many shared their own silly experiences attempting to answer the question.
“I did the same thing for Santa. My 8 yo said ‘adult’ answer. So I broke the news. She looked me dead in the eyes and said, ‘We’re still going to pretend.’ And then we pretended it never happened 😂,” one user said.
“My mom said ‘I’m the tooth fairy’ and I thought she was THE tooth fairy. It was both the magical and grown up answer,” said another.
“That’s awesome!” another user added. “I remember when my youngest daughter asked my oldest daughter if Santa Claus is real, and my oldest daughter said ‘as real as the tooth fairy’ youngest daughter smiled contentedly.”
See, if they want to believe, they’ll believe! There’s no harm in keeping a little magic around, if you can.
