Should Parents Lie to their Children About Fictional Characters (i.e Santa Clause, The Tooth Fairy, ...) ?

Everybody knows that Santa comes through the chimney to deliver gifts to all the good boys and girls. When I was little I lived in a house without a chimney. It made me wonder, “If Santa Claus is real how does he get into the houses without chimneys?” I don’t think I ever actually believed in Santa Claus. Not to mention my mom hid our Christmas tree in the coat closet, and I remember seeing gift wrap on the top shelf of the closet. Another unanswered question, “Why does mommy have presents in the closet if the TV says Santa Claus brings presents?” I asked my mom if she ever allowed us to believe in SC and she said no. My mom told us when we were little that she bought everything under our tree not some fat white guy. I found that so funny but it’s true, why would you let someone else take the credit for your hard earned work? Same thing for the Tooth Fairy, my mom would just give me the money for it. I remember one time, we sat at the table for breakfast and I looked at her, smiled and said, “The tooth fairy didn't come last night.” She smiled back at me and told me she’ll come tomorrow night. We just laughed a little and finished our breakfast. My parents have never really been the “little white lie” type people. There's something about lying that doesn't sit right. Our parents tell us not to lie, but it's okay for them to lie to us from the ages of 2 to about 10?

Melissa, a working mom of 4, hoped the day would never come when her children ask her the truth about these fictional characters, but it did. Her 10 yr. old son Jake asked her one day after he stepped off the bus, "Is the Tooth Fairy Real?" Their conversation had gotten the attention of all the surrounding children, and she didn't want to be the bearer of bad new so she deflected his question with, “Why would you ask such a silly question?” He said one of the kids at school told him that she'd found all of her teeth in her mom's closet. She then took a deep breath and changed the subject. Shew eventually told him the truth about the tooth fairy not being real. He was sad at first but he was happy she didn't lie to him about it. 

I think some parents allow their children to believe in these fictional characters to either make the holidays more memorable or to make them behave. It seems there is a long list of "little white lies" our parents tell us to make us behave. "If you're not good this year Santa Claus is going to leave you a big bag of coal." "Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis."If you keep making that face, it will get stuck like that." The list goes on and on, but if you lie you're encouraging your children to lie. Lying may seem harmless when they’re little but it hurts them in the long run. Parents should not lie to their children. It’s not worth the unwanted heart break later on.