The Tooth Fairy

 What do you do when the Tooth Fairy fails to show up in the night?  Your son comes to you in the morning and says, "The Tooth Fairy didn't come last night, and I still have my tooth and no money."  How could this happen?  Where could the Tooth Fairy be and why would he not show up?  This could be a disaster.  Unless you are quick on your feet and can have an excuse ready for the Tooth Fairy.

 Before we get to that lets look at the origin of the Tooth Fairy.  "The tooth fairy comes when a child has lost a tooth. Commonly, she is very small, and she comes in the middle of the night. The child is to leave the tooth under his/her pillow, so that the tooth fairy can take it during her visit. Once she has taken the tooth, she leaves monetary reimbursement under the pillow, anything from ten cents to a dollar. (This action is done by a parent.) The teeth are then taken to her tower, and used for her purposes."  "Even more interesting is the fact that Vikings had a "tooth fee," or a fee that was given to children upon the use of a tooth."  "The teeth were later strung to make jewellery, some researchers claim."
 So, ten cents to a dollar, who are we kidding.  This could work if you gave ten pennies and your kid did not know the concept of money, although he/she will catch on and the Tooth Fairy will have some retroactive payback to hand over.  We started with 3-5 coins (pennies, nickels, dimes) with our oldest and worked up to a couple bucks.  With the twins, who are just starting to lose teeth, we have had to up the amount as their big brother now knows the value of money and has made certain to share his knowledge.  Currently, we are 1-3 dollars a tooth, although I have plans to take that back through their inheritance.  We should break even in the end.

 When the Tooth Fairy visits the cottage to collect a tooth this is a special thing as you are not at home and you therefore get a little extra for being brave and losing the tooth away from home.  I thought there would be travel expenses on the part of the Tooth Fairy requiring the kid to leave their tooth and settle for a fortune cookie in return.  Then there was the Tooth Fairy not showing up at home due to him not knowing we had left the cottage.  I believe this is the child’s responsibility no matter what my son says.  “Mom, you said you left a message for the Tooth Fairy letting him know we were home.”  Mom said, “Yes I did.  I guess he did not pick up on his messages, probably not using a Blackberry.”  Ultimately this tooth received a letter from the Tooth Fairy apologizing and once again a little extra for the tooth, $5 to be exact.  Tooth Fairy better not let this happen again.  Two teeth, two kids, three days, and $8 later everyone is happy, except the Tooth Fairy who, at this pace, will be broke by the time our daughter loses her first.
 This brings me to lost teeth.  What do you do with the teeth?  A necklace for battle makes sense for the Vikings, although I can't see the boss at work being to impressed.  "Sorry boss but it provides me strength as I start my day."  "I get it Sally, although you are a hygienist and it's scaring the patients."  Currently our kids lost teeth are in separate containers sitting in a drawer.  I’m thinking a future arts and craft day with the kids making smiley faces.  Please share some of your thoughts on what you do with the teeth and how much you give and I will share them in a future blog.