Two days after Buddy announced he had a “wiggly tooth,” it fell out – right as Hurricane Sandy swirled around us in Massachusetts.
He was so excited! But the excitement soon turned into worry when he asked, “But Mommy, will the Tooth Fairy be able to fly during a hurricane?” However, a second later, he smiled, as if he has answered his own question. “Wait, of course she can, she’s got magic.”
Meanwhile, Dr. G. and I were scrambling. My plan was to follow my friend Sara’s advice and get a roll of Susan B. Anthony gold dollar coins from the bank to use as Tooth Fairy loot. But we hadn’t expected his tooth to fall out so soon, so we hadn’t gone to the bank. And we definitely were not getting out today. We grabbed our wallets and realized we had two choices: $1 or $10. $1 seemed a little cheap for his first tooth, so we went with $10.
In the morning, he was extremely thrilled, to say the least, that he got “10 whole dollars for only 1 tooth!”. I could see him trying to calculate what that would be if we got $10 for EVERY tooth. So we told him that we think he got $10 because it’s his first tooth. He looked a little disappointed.
It’s been a few days now, and seeing that adorable gap-toothed smile still makes my heart melt … and makes me a little sad because it’s yet another sign that he is growing up. Sigh.
But I’m just happy he had a better “losing your first tooth” experience than I did. Because I accidentally swallowed mine. Gross, I know. I was devastated and was certain the Tooth Fairy would skip on by because I didn’t have a tooth to leave under my pillow. But I think my parents had me write a note and, sure enough, the next morning my shiny silver quarter was there. And all was right with the world. Thankfully, I never asked my parents what would happen to the tooth after I swallowed it.
Speaking of money, this event also stirred up much debate among our friends and family about inflation and the Tooth Fairy. Is it me, or did anyone else just get a quarter when they lost a tooth? From what I can tell, the going rate now is at least a buck per tooth, usually much more.
For those of you who have played Tooth Fairy, what did you give your kids?
Kim says
Ha! I don’t know about you, but i always remember getting a dollar each time from the tooth fairy. You only got a quarter? I guess that’s because mom and dad loved me more. 😉