A couple says they refuse to lie to their daughter by telling her Santa and the Tooth Fairy are real but say it doesn’t take away the “magic”.<br /><br />Ashley, 26, and her husband Keith Nkosana, 31, decided to always tell the truth to their daughter, four.<br /><br />The parents refuse to lie about Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter bunny because they don’t want to be “deceptive”.<br /><br />Ashley says Christmas is still “special” for her daughter despite not believing in Santa.<br /><br />The part-time administrator from Repton, Derbyshire, said: “We don’t lie to our daughter.<br /><br />“My daughter will ask ‘mum is Santa real?’ and I’ll say ‘he’s not real but we can pretend’.<br /><br />“People think it’s not going to be magical if she knows.<br /><br />“But you can be creative.<br /><br />“We can pretend he’s real.<br /><br />“That’s still magical – she still enjoys Christmas.”<br /><br />Ashley and Keith, a project manager, had always struggled with the concept of lying or deceiving their daughter – even when she was just a baby.<br /><br />Ashley said: “I really struggled to leave her when she was younger.<br /><br />“People said ‘just run away’ but I didn’t feel ok with that.<br /><br />“She’d cry and we’d say we’re going and say goodbye instead of sneaking away.”<br /><br />When their daughter turned two, the couple decided to home educate and picked their family values – truth, love and fun. <br /><br />Ashely said: “We decided to be truthful.<br /><br />“Why do we have to lie?<br /><br />“Our parenting style is on us than the child.<br /><br />“We would model the behaviour we want her to have.”<br /><br />Their daughter knows Santa is not real but can chose to pretend he is if she wants to.<br /><br />Ashley said: “We tell her Santa is not real.<br /><br />“People think it takes away the innocence of childhood.<br /><br />“We don’t want to be deceptive.<br /><br />“You can easily white lie as an adult.”<br /><br />Ashley’s daughter recently lost her tooth and the parents decided to not tell the tale of the tooth fairy.<br /><br />She said: “People said - ‘Are you going to do the tooth fairy?’<br /><br />“We will still put money under her pillow and she woke up to confetti.<br /><br />“We made it like a milestone without having to lie.<br /><br />“There are so many ways you can make something special.”<br /><br />Ashley said telling their daughter the truth about Santa does “ruffle feathers” and their daughter will tell our children Santa isn’t real.<br /><br />She said: “Parents say – make sure you’re child doesn’t ruin it.<br /><br />“But I don’t want to raise a child to be fearful.<br /><br />“Other parents think it’s not a big deal to lie. They are in delulu land.<br /><br />“Our family think I’m extra.”<br /><br />The couple also hold family meetings on a Sunday and will discuss the week – letting their daughter express anything she’d like and planning meals for the following week.<br /><br />The family won’t shy away from difficult conversations and have even discussed the ongoing war in Israel with her.<br /><br />Ashley said: “If we’re going away we’ll always tell the truth.<br /><br />“We tell her ‘mums really struggling’ if I am.<br /><br />“I won’t hide from an uncomfortable conversation with her.<br /><br />“We discussed the war – people are naive if they don’t think kids won’t hear it on the radio or in your conversations.”<br /><br />Ashley and Keith hope being “honest parents” will help shape their daughter’s values.<br /><br />She said: “I hope by being honest and having integrity we’ll raise her as a good citizen.”
