Emily Oster, PhD

1 minute read Emily Oster, PhD
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Emily Oster, PhD

Tooth Fairy Follow-Up!

Emily Oster, PhD

1 minute read

You may recall the Tooth Fairy discussion from a previous newsletter, in which I posted a survey fielded by Lydia Musher in her newsletter (find it here!). She’s written up the results, which I will mostly let her speak to in her post, although I will note the top line result that about 70% of families report they at least started with a Tooth Fairy with their kids.

There is some interesting discussion about the tension between “preserving magic” and “lying”, which resonated with me. Lydia has some thoughts on how these may not be in conflict. In our particular case, I think I would have erred towards more “preserving magic” but Jesse felt strongly that we not lie if asked. Which is how one day I was forced to directly answer the question, “Is the tooth fairy real?” with “No.” Which was followed up with: “I didn’t think so, since other fairies are not.” Touché. Anyway, check out the post.

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