Sleep/teeth? What a prompt this week! Then, it hit me, THE Tooth Fairy! Who thought this strange fairy tale up?
Hey Kids, take your smelly, bloody tooth, put it under your clean white pillow and POOF... Money in the Morning! ( Of course, I soaked that little square bit of enamel in a shot glass with rubbing alcohol first THEN made the kids put it into a tiny baggy!)
When my first son, lost his first tooth, it was more exciting for me then it was for him! I lovingly explained to him that the tooth fairy will come in the night and leave him a surprise under his pillow. He was amazed and to my amazement, he was also a little scared! She is coming in my room? what will she do? what does she look like? ( Some how, the santa fable was easier for him to digest, I guess because the Christmas Tree wasn't in his bedroom) I remember waiting up till I knew he was sound asleep, happily putting money (the amount in next paragraph!) under his pillow .( I slipped it in a New baggy, so he didn't have dirty money under his clean little boy head!) His excitement in the morning was so adorable! As the years went by and my Third son started losing teeth... Things changed a little. Many nights my husband and I, totally exhausted would forget to slip the bag under his slumbering little head. We usually would remember either in the middle of the night or in the morning before he woke. Once, when we totally forgot and this adorable, sleepy, disappointed child ran to our bed and said "She didn't come!" Quick thinking Dad, said, "OH, didn't it rain last night? The tooth fairy can't fly in the rain, she can't get her wings wet. Leave it there tonight and I bet she will visit". ( Great Save DAd! ) This saved us for the next few teeth we slept through! Our little guy would always casually say- "yeah, it must have rained last night Mom, She will come tonight"
Now, I don't claim to be an authority on parenting, fables or money, BUT New parents out there, Listen up!
When you have your first baby and your so excited about Each new event in their lives, you tend to get over zealous! Remember, what you do for the first tooth... you will be expected to do for the second, third, fourth.....( how many teeth do we have?) AND THEN! Big brother will tell younger brother who will tell Youngest brother... "Ooooh, You're so lucky you've lost a tooth, the tooth fairy gives you FIVE dollars!" Yeah! I was that stupid! I set a precedent that has cost me quite a lot of fives and also made my money loving, smart ass kids believe in the tooth fairy much longer than the average toothless kid.
Many secondary teeth years later, They have all asked me ( with a wrinkled up nose) 'Mom, What did you do with all of our teeth?' I brought them in my room, opened a little draw, where I have many little labeled baggies with dates and names and jagged little teeth. (Hey, Maybe if I put them ALL under my pillow, I can finally win the lottery. :)
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20 comments:
Very funny. Inflation has really hit the tooth fairy business. I think my kids got a quarter.
OMG This is the cutest story....but let me tell you I was even more stupid than you!! I think I'll write about it!! haha Loved it.. perfect ending too!! You rock girlfriend!!!
Love you Sherrie
Yikes that's a lot of money!
One of my finest parenting moments ever was when I sat my son down just before he lost his first tooth and explained to him that the tooth fairy brings whatever SHE wants - could be money, could be a small gift, could be something different every time. The only constant is that it is something small "because teeth are small". Saves me from frantic late night searches for the right change, if I don't have it I can always grab a trinket ;-).
Oh, and he stopped believing almost immediately after some bratty kid told him the truth, but he still pretends to believe every time he loses another tooth LOL.
Now let me get this right. Are you honestly telling me that the tooth fairy doesn't exist? I've had a tooth under my pillow for 40 years and I'm still living in hope.
Wow - that's good advice Lucy. When I have a kid, I'll make sure to keep the amount the tooth fairy brings LOW and maybe even take the opportunity to raise it slowly for the next kid, and the one after that in order to teach my kids about inflation. Ha ha. :) Great story and a funny take on the prompt.
well despite the financial investment,, i am sure the memories are very worth it.. this was really a cute little essay...
Five bucks? I wanna come to your house when I lose a tooth! Hahaha. I loved this post.
i distinctly remember waking up one morning to find the tooth fairy had never arrived. my parents were, of course, baffled. hehe.
We told the first born that the first tooth was always worth more than subsequent teeth. So we're covered all right. Now that Eldest is losing the last of his baby teeth, we're no longer out the money because once you stop believing, you stop receiving.
I loved this post. Inflation hit our tooth fairy hard too! Having a 6 year gap, I also had the problem of explaining to the eldest that in fact it WAS fair that the youngest got more per tooth as inflation had hit the economy as a whole....
Great post! I found that my kids like coinage better, because they had no concept of the different values -- so 3 pennies, 2 nickels, 4 dimes, and one quarter was better than one dirty dollar (or five *wink*)
Thanks everyone!
I wish I was as sensible as Robin! Or as swift as Patois!
and Keith, so sorry to be the one to burst your bubble! :))
hehehe sweet!
My mother still keeps some of my teeth. I tell her to throw them away, it's a little icky.
Ah, the memories, sneaking in to get the tooth without waking child up. Their early capitalist abilities in realising inflation.
Loved it - the post, I mean :-)
What a post! It rings true for all of us!
snooze time, baby!
I loved reading this because it really is a rite of passage for parents as well as the kiddos. And when our second daughter woke up to zip, I wrote her a letter from the TF which she never quite believed--later, probably when she was 13, she said she knew it by my writing! Another pitfall from exhaustion.
Thanks for sharing!
Is it necessary to let children live in this kinda fantasy?
I would just tell them the reality.
Great post anyway, love reading it.
oh Lucy, thank you for that advice, i have decided what my daughter is gonna get when it's her turn...a penny! Am I bad or what?
Hi Lucy,
I too have forgotten. I just say, she was probably very busy! I'm often tired too when I have forgotten. The excuse of rain and wet wings, I wish I had thought of it.
Lucy in Pickering, ON
I did the same thing once, just so I wouldn't disappoint my daughter I left her 5.00 all I had in my purse. She caught me one morning sneaking money under pillow. She now pretends to believe in the tooth fairy so she can get money put under her pillow. I put a dollar, or as us Canadians call it...a LOONIE!
Lucy/Lucia
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