4-year-old asks mom if 'tooth fairy is real'—and her inclusive response is absolutely perfect

With minds as clear as empty canvases or blank slates, children can see connections where adults only see boundaries. Children believe in magic. For them, Harry Potter is real and so is the Sesame Street’s “Snuffleupagus.” Their make-believe worlds chime with flying sparkles, magic dust, witches and cauldrons bubbling with purple-green potions. However, back to real life, no fairies with sweet clinking voices may appear at their bedside and sing them lullabies. This makes the kids wonder why. In one such scenario, the four-year-old daughter of KC Davis (@domesticblisters) asked her if the “tooth fairy was real.” Davis posted a TikTok video sharing how she responded while ensuring she didn’t crush her world of magic.

“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 Davis in the video. “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.” So what was her response? For a moment, she just looked at her. Their eyes locked into each other and their gaze froze. Then, Davis 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.’”

Davis’ intelligent response prompted many parents to share similar instances from their parenting in the comments section. “My mom’s technique was always to respond to these sorts of questions with acting stumped and saying “Oh I don’t know, what do you think?” and then just agree with whatever we said,” commented @joefxd.

Many adults also joined the discussion and shared how their parents responded to questions like these. @purplebadger9 said, “I'm in my 30s and my parents still insist Santa is real.” @merrieberrie wrote that she also likes to ask the question, “What do you think” while conversing with her kids. “Your response was perfect,” she commented. In the video’s caption, Davis admitted that her response was indeed worth speculation for other moms as well. “This may be my single greatest contribution to Momtok,” she wrote.

Even more so, Davis’ response is backed by child psychology. Emphasizing children’s belief in their world of magic is a healthy thing to do, as Child development specialist Rosemarie Truglio told NPR. Truglio explained that when a kid asks about these make-believe characters, they may not be asking what their mom or dad thinks. They may not be asking for an answer. So, rather than responding immediately with an answer, parents should ask them a question back, just as Davis did.

According to Cedarwood School, a study has shown that “fantastical thinking positively impacted children’s cognitive development in creativity and art.” Childhood is the time of an individual’s life when imagination begins to form. At this time, they don’t yet have a solid personal identity. So what they do is to project their emotions on mythical and fantasy characters, and learn from them. They gradually build confidence and self-esteem by putting their trust and devotion into imaginary characters. And ultimately, if parents affirm their kid’s belief in magic and miracles, they are not entirely lying, because magic always exists for those who believe in it!

You can follow KC Davis on TikTok for more parenting, home, and lifestyle hacks!