Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and god, and when I had a child of my own we did not start out his life with a lie, I said we pretend santa fills you socks, and as mom and dad know what we would like you to have we will take care of the bigger gift,or gifts, And you do not tell your friends as their parents are telling them a little lie,but you are just to smart a toddler for that, but don't ruin it for their mom and dad, my thought was if you start right out telling your kids lies, how do they know when to trust you are telling the truth.
I canr really remember anything my parents told me they were not 'hands on' just two very damaged individuals who were damaging to their children - My mother was bipolar mainly manic and you couldnt really get through to her at all except by accepting violence. Strangely I doubt they did lie except for my mothers family who lied to save her from going into a mental hospital
Not too much as like me they were straight talkers.
Santa, & that my father was always "going to see a man about a dog!"
I couldn't give a rats about Santa but damm I wanted a dog.....
That was one of my father's favorite lines when he was going to the local tavern.
My father told me that FDR saved the world from the depression. I later learned that in fact he made the depression worse by convincing businessmen to keep wages the same even though prices were falling. The businessmen reacted by laying their employees off.
My Parents told me that God loved me and would take care of me, answer my prayers and take me to heaven when I died. They lied, but they didn't know they were. They had also been lied to and just had never challenged the ideas. They didn't suffer from the lack of knowledge, just stayed blissfully ignorant. I couldn't stand it! They always loved me but worried about my strange beliefs/nonbeliefs.
That ,sometimes, lies are ok if they are to used when you feel they will protect others.