Community Voices for Health

By: Tanya Pimental

Today like any other day, I picked my daughter up from school at three o’clock.  As I approached, she had quite the grin on her face.  After further inspection, it was a grin with one less tooth!  Lucy lost her first today during school.  When she told me, I got all teary eyed.  Instantly she seemed so much older.  My baby girl, my first born, my sweet sassy almost 6-year-old, has her first treasure for the tooth fairy.

Apparently while eating an apple, “I felt a tickle and weird piece of apple, so I spit it out.”  There was that first valuable tooth.  Off to the school nurse she went to check it out.  She scored an adorable little tooth saver box.  I think it’s the perfect little box to slide under her pillow tonight.  There were an array of colors, but of course, she picked pink.  It is always her choice if available when choosing something.  Apparently Lucy really liked the nurses office and said the nurse was happy that it was her first visit all year.

After sharing the news with my Facebook friends, it turns out that some tooth fairies have been known to leave $20 for that tooth and $5 for others after it.  Well, this tooth fairy does not have a money tree out back.  She will be leaving 5 gold dollar coins for this tooth and then $2 coins for each one after that.  They loose 20 teeth total so that will make her a profit of $43.  Sounds generous enough to me.  And with the money coming in coins, I think it makes it a little more magical.  We sure do love us some magic around here!

I got curious and wandered the internet for a bit and stumbled across some great alternatives to the tooth fairy leaving money.  Just remember that whatever you start out doing with that first tooth sets a precedent.  It’s also nice to talk with other parents in your circle to gauge what they are planning.  I can just imagine Lucy coming home and telling me that Sally’s tooth fairy brought her diamond earrings.  That would make this tooth fairy look pretty cheap.  My cousin’s family lets the toothless child pick a special dessert that night instead of getting a visit from the tooth fairy.  I like the idea of leaving a small toy or treasure and if I had one on hand I may be inclined to do that, but I think it’s safest to go with money.  And the tooth fairy better remember to leave it or I guess she’ll have to up the amount for each night it’s delayed.  In all fairness, she is quite a busy woman.

This is a great site for more info on the trends in Tooth Fairying, http://www.toothfairyletter.net/Tooth_Fairy_Tips_For_Parents.php.