I think too that it really depends on the kind of kid you have as to how and when you tell. My dd is very rational and logical. She likes the idea of magic, but she's said since she was 3 that she doesn't believe in it. She told me at 4 she didn't believe in the tooth fairy after her second tooth fell out and demanded I let her know who it was. She's seemed doubtful about Santa for the last couple of years, but she's tentatively going along with it for now. Every now and again she lets slip about what my husband or I might be getting her for Christmas when in the past all her presents have come from Santa (which is what happened in both my husband's family and my own - wish I'd known about this one gift from Santa thing!) When dd asks outright about Santa, I will tell her.
If I had a different kind of kid, one who loved that kind of deep fantasy stuff, I'd happily play along for as long as they seemed to want it. In our case I think dd's too excited about the how facinating (and 'magical') the 'real' world is. We've talked about the fact that other kids her age do believe in the tooth fairy and she is very sensitive to that (and seems to understand that adults like to think she believes in the tooth fairy too). As an early and liberal shedder of teeth I've watched her play along with the whole tooth fairy thing many times.
Flower I love 'Dear Toothfairy (Mom)...' - hilarious! I completely agree with you that not believing has anything to do with imagination. Dd has an extraordinary imagination - she just knows it's, well, imaginary.
Last edited by Giftodd; 12/01/11 05:10 PM.
