What to do when the Tooth Fairy visits
By: kerri
TAGS: loose tooth tips tooth fairy
There’s a new superstar in town: the Tooth Fairy. In our house (which is full of boys, so the Tooth Fairy is DEFINITELY a boy) he out ranks the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus all rolled into one.
We lost our first tooth the other day. I say we, because it truly was a family affair. Will’s bottom tooth was so loose it was practically horizontal, but the darn thing refused to come out.
We all took turns giving it a good wiggle, but after about six hours it was still hanging in there. I could see the new tooth literally pushing the old one out of the way. I had visions of an orthodontist bill the size of my mortgage. I had to take control. So I did the same thing my parents did to me: I went to the cupboard, took out a piece of string and carefully wound it around Will’s tooth. I told him I’d just give it a little tug, and then… plop! The tiny tooth was lying in my hand.
You’ve never seen a six year old so excited. He couldn’t stop looking at himself in the mirror and smiling his beautiful new toothless smile. But that was just the beginning of the excitement… because we all know what comes next – a visit from the Tooth Fairy!
Will raced upstairs and grabbed the small treasure chest that had literally been waiting for this moment. Inside he placed his precious baby tooth and excitedly waited for bedtime (if only that happened every night!). When the clock finally ticked over and I kissed him good night, he said: “Mum, I wonder how much money the Tooth Fairy will leave me?” An excellent question and one I too was wondering about.
What is the going rate for a tooth these days? Is the first tooth more valuable than the others? And what about molars? If there is more to the tooth, should there be more money? I decided to turn to my fellow “Tooth Fairies” for advice on Facebook and was inundated with responses. Seems most parents were just as confused as I was. They suggested anything from $2 to $10, and they had some great stories too.
My favourite was from my sister, who reminded me of when her daughter lost her first tooth. The Tooth Fairy was very excited about this new pearly white and drank a bit too much magic potion… because both mummy Tooth Fairy AND daddy Tooth Fairy both left money for her. In the morning, their daughter was ecstatic to find her tooth earned her $15. Mum and dad then had a lot of explaining and negotiating in anticipation of many teeth to follow. It’s a far cry from when I was growing up. I remember I got about 50 cents per tooth and that seemed like a fortune!
So as we approached bed time and the Tooth Fairy’s imminent appearance, the still the question remained… how much is a tooth worth? In the end this particular Tooth Fairy opted for $2. For my money, I think coins make the best kind of treasure for a child to find, rather than a paper note. And the look on Will’s face in the morning said it all. To him $2 was a small fortune and the bragging rights at school…. priceless.
How much do you think the Tooth Fairy should pay these days? And have you got any tips on how to help kids cope with loose teeth?
kerri
Kerri is a TV and radio producer. She married her high school sweetheart, Matthew, and the couple recently celebrated their ten-year anniversary. They have two boys, William aged 7 and Luke aged 5. They live in suburbia and the boys say they have no plans to ever leave or get married - because you have to kiss girls. Help!
Showing 20 comments
Well, if I were going to answer that, the proper price for me would be $5. You can't help your kids from getting very excited about it. Plus, they have bragging rights at school, which is very cool for them. I think that would boost their ego a lot!
Patsy Dupre
Congrats on the tooth fairy on getting you first son's tooth! It looks like smooth sailing for your son, and the dentist since his teeth are growing naturally. XD
Serena Mcelyea
how much shall the tooth fairy pay i say as much as you can afford it is not many times we loss our teeth and hopefully we can all learn about why we loss teeth in the process so we can better look after them thats why the easter bunny only has two teeth heheh
my miss 5 has got her first wobbly tooth today, i reckon $2 per tooth is about right and the shinier the better! I too have told my older girls that if you don't believe you get nothing (this also works for the easter bunny and santa!!) Anyway, my 2 eldest (now 14 and 13) used to write letters to the tooth fairy, asking many questions, so getting under the pillow without waking them was a breeze, well, more so than trying to answer all those questions and do it in writing that was legible and didn't resemble mine in any way!!!!!!!!
If you're saying that the tooth fairy's a guy, I'd be pretty amazed if I see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in my son's room putting money under his pillow in exchange for his tooth. Haha! About the price, I heard a kid getting 5 dollars for a tooth, but most of the time, it's from a quarter to 2 dollars.
I did not realy want to do the tooth fairy thing but i had told my eldest daughter if she did not brush her teeth they would fall out ... So we brushed morning and night then this year she came home crying that her tooth fell out so i told her about the good old tooth fairy, but there is a catch she only comes to children that looked after their teeth because she could not take ones that were not looked after because she build her castle with the teeth so we do not want the castle to fall down. She still was not sure so i said that she could write a letter and explain to the toothfAIRY WAHT HAPPENED after that when the tooth fairy had been and gone taking the tooth and letter there was a $1 coin in the glass.. :)
The ice block is a cracker of an idea- thanks for sharing!
O.k. the tooth fairy was made easy for us when one of my daughters friends told us all about it at school one day. The tooth fairy pays one dollar for little teeth and two for big teeth. It has to be the shiniest coin you , sorry, the fairy can find . He/she also leaves fairy dust blue for my son and pink for my daughter . I get them to put the tooth in a glass of water on their bed side table, this is easier for the fairy than getting their wings crushed under the pillow ( and waking the child) and the water also magnifies the tooth so that the child can get a good look. Recently my 6 year old boy said he didn't believe in the tooth fairy , I just said if you don't believe you don't get paid, he soon changed his tune. ( the 9 year old still believes!)
my daughter lost her first tooth and she told me the tooth fairy was bringing her a new tooth brush so she got a new tooth brush and a gold coin :)
Love it!! And coins are so sparkly too. We used to put our teeth in a glass of water beside our beds and in the morning we'd find the money in the glass....magic! My twins can't wait!!
Robyn - I feel your pain. My mum is from South Africa too!
Zip lock bags are a great idea Kelly. I had to use one the other day when one of the boys friends had a tooth fall out while jumping on the trampoline!
I wish I had this info a few years ago!! When immigrating to Australia from South Africa, I had no idea what the "going rate" translated to in dollars. I was so nervous when my eldest daughter's first tooth fell out (not long after we arrived). I had no-one to ask and did not want her going off to school proudly announcing what she had received for her tooth and being told by others it was not enough!!So i gave $5. A few years later, my youngest is now 6 and has lost 4 teeth in the space of 2 weeks (she looks beautiful!!) - anyway, has been a bit of a financial drain on the poor fairy's purse!
PS KellyB - I have also forgotten once!! Don't feel bad. I am sure its happened to many many fairies!!
HA! Cute! We give $2 for a tooth here too. The girls don't really "believe" in the tooth fairy but have a lot of fun with the concept. They put the tooth under their pillow in a zip lock bag (not very glamours -- I know) and in the morning they find some money in the bag to put in their money box!! But I cringe as I admit to forgetting one time... I felt like a TERRIBLE MUM! I haven't forgotten since then....
Sounds like you've got a great system in place Bronnie.
The ice-block is a great idea Sharon! Think I'll use that next time.
OH Miss 7 was like this too. She had waited for soooo long for her turn to come, after watching her big brother lose his. She was so excited and proud, even though there was blood everywhere! (She pulled it out herself!). We had $2 for the first tooth, then $1 after that. Now her Dad and I are no longer together the tooth fairy visits the house where the tooth was lost, then the tooth is carefully transported to the other house on changeover day, and comes again. So it's $2 total again. One good thing for the kids to come out of our marriage break-up.
We don't do the tooth fairy here, but with getting the teeth out, I just tell them to keep wiggling it. With the two, top front teeth, I usually give them an icy pole to bite on, because I find those teeth are really hard to get out, and end up dangling all over the place. The icy pole pretty much forces it out faster as they bite, then just as it's starting to hurt, their now empty gum hits the icy pole and it's like a nice, numbing ice pack.
Ah Lucy, I understand completely!
We've now had two visits from the tooth fairy and are looking like having two trips to the orthodontist if the gap between them gets any wider!
That is an adorable photo.
The tooth fairy finally had cause to visit us just recently (for Olivia, who is 6.) She was the last in her class, so MUCH anticipation & excitement!
The lose tooth thing drove me mad for a while: I had forgotten how long it takes from initial wobble to hanging on by a thread to finally out. But certain foods were deemed "tooth wobblers". Apples, carrots and slightly under ripe pears were favoured.
In the end the first tooth got dragged out via a chunk of sausage roll. Nice.
The tooth fairy had to make some swift calls to asertain the current exchange rate......and $2 was negotiated.
The tooth fairy also had to create a 'stash spot' for all incoming teeth - secret enough never to be found by little children, lest the magic is spoiled.