Tooth Fairy Generosity (aka–insanity)
So, Noah has his first loose tooth. He has been waiting, not-so-patiently I might add, for this day. The look on his face when he came and told me he thought his tooth was loose we priceless. Most of the girls in his class have already lost lots of teeth. They have one boy in their class who is on the older side (that’s a nice way of saying it right?) who has lost like 7 or 8 teeth, but none of the other boys Noah’s age have. So, it’s very exciting.
The tooth is just wiggly–and probably 3 or so weeks away from being ready to really fall out–but this didn’t stop conversations about the tooth fairy. I am in no real way stingy. So when we were all talking on family vacation about the Tooth Fairy and what she brings, I thought $3 for your first tooth and $1 for each tooth after. That seemed reasonable, right? Okay, so now I know that it isn’t.
The day after vacation I got the following text from my brother informing me that the going rate for a tooth is $3.00.
So, I thought $3 isn’t so bad. It seems a bit crazy, but you certainly can’t buy anything with a $1 like you used to. I still remember penny candy and going to the local Ben Franklin and being able to get a bag of candy for $1 and it was a lot–now? Not so much.
I resigned myself that I’d be shelling out about $60 over the next few years for teeth that have fallen out of my son’s mouth.
At dinner the other night, Noah happily declared, “I know how much the tooth fairy leaves!!”
“How much?”
“TEN DOLLARS”
Oh pardon me as I spit out my wine all over the table. “What?”
“Ten Dollars, Mom. The tooth fairy brings TEN DOLLARS.”
Are you kidding me? These aren’t the first kids in the world to lose teeth. Ten bucks for a tooth. So, now. I have to leave Ten Dollars for my kids first tooth. Then who the hell knows. I am still flabbergasted that $10 is actually what the going rate seems to be in the world of private school. I know I shouldn’t be surprised. For one of Noah’s classmates birthday’s-the parents of said child had an ice cream truck come to school.
So, what does the tooth fairy leave in your house?
Embracing Imperfection 
$1 at my house and I still think that’s a lot. I have heard the going rate is $5, but we don’t care. That’s insane. Good luck!
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I think $1 sounds great!
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Well for a number of years now, I’ve been telling the kids of the Ethiopian tradition of throwing your tooth on the roof & making a wish…so yeah I took the totally easy & cheap way out, you know as a way to honor cultural tradition, lol. We don’t really do Santa either, mostly because its a U.S./wealthy thing & it bothers me to tell kids the story of him delivering gifts to children all over the world when in fact if my son was still in Ethiopia, then he wouldn’t be getting anything from the fat bearded man in the red suit (& of course hubby grew up poor in El Salvador & Santa didn’t give him anything either). Instead we talk about the fun of playing Santa & giving gifts & every year we talk about St. Nick & where the whole Santa thing came from & then they just get gifts with no division that this one is from mom & dad & this one from Santa. At this point it has worked & because we don’t come right out & say, Santa, tooth fairy, etc. aren’t real, then we don’t worry too much about them blowing the fun for their friends…& they still get pics with Santa & all.
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Ginger,
Oh how I wish this could have been the same route we have taken.
I like the Ethiopian tradition–I might have to try that.
We have done less and less of Santa–and it too saddens me to know that if they were in Ethiopia, they wouldn’t be getting any presents. It’s so hard to not get caught up in the fun but then it just feels “yucky” afterwards in many regards.
Thanks for Sharing.
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my 4-year-old just lost her first two teeth. i left a quarter for the first one and she cried. not because it was not enough, but because she wanted a PRESENT not money. the second time i left her a 4-pack of crayons and a drawing (that i got for free somewhere) and she couldn’t be happier. no doubt when she finds out what other kids are getting that will likely change, but for now i’ll take it! 😉
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I’m blogging about this topic tonight! Sean just lost his first tooth. He got $3.00.
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I pay $10 for the first tooth and $5 for each additional tooth. Half of all their money must be saved the other half they are free to do whatever they want with. So technically they only get $2.50 a tooth
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I like this idea. I need to encourage them to save more.
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I have always told my kids that Santa, Toothfairy, etc are things that kids pretend about. They are welcome to pretend, but pretending it is. That said, my kids’ toothfairy is a total flop :-). If she remembers, she usually doesn’t have any money on her anyway and they end up getting a Canadian coin because that is all she hasn’t spent!
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