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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The Tooth Fairy Dilemma

I don't really know how most families handle the Tooth Fairy issue...it is, as most family issues are, a private, personal matter I suppose. Daniel seemed to fully embrace the idea (A fact that probably horrifies him today!) that a small winged creature flew in through a window and exchanged shiny coins for a tooth. One day, a day that still lives in infamy, he came home from school and let me know that he now knew Mom and Dad were Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, the Leprechaun that visited on March 17th and the Tooth Fairy. We lost them all in one fell swoop. A dark day for Mommy to say the least. Darned older kids...hmpf.
Gracie fully embraces these visitors and loves each one dearly. She adores the ideas of fairies, a fact that is reinforced by some of the DVDs she loves to watch. Have you seen "Fairy Tale, A True Story"? So precious...or "Kristin's Fairy House"? Sweet.
Grace's fairy, "Tammy", has left a few notes, bits of pixie dust (She seems to be a tad messy) and leaves 8 shiny, new quarters for each tooth. Now, and here is where it gets tricky, we have a dilemma over the money issue. Daniel received 4 quarters. I always got one quarter...oh so many years ago. Uh huh..back in the dark ages. I figured, inflation being a factor, that 4 were just fine for Dan. It was Dan who decided that "Tammy" should leave his little sister 8. I guess inflation is a much bigger problem these days. But I digress....
It came to my attention early on that some of Grace's friends felt they were being, how should I say this, um...*neglected* by their fairies. They reported that their teeth were not quite fetching such vast amounts of money. Oh my...I had stepped into the cesspool that IS the Tooth Fairy dilemma with both of my flaky, flat feet.
Then, this week, I hear about a family that blogged (relayed to me by a dear friend) about their child's first foray into teeth loss. It seems that THEIR fairy is quite the generous pixie.
Their child received one very un-shiny 20 dollar bill. Uh huh. I said $20. For one tooth.
Obviously I have neglected to keep up with the times...or those proverbial Jones. I guess that we Ohioans are a sad lot as I looked up (Yes, you CAN find such information on the web) what the average fairy in Ohio leaves for a tooth. It would seem that most Ohio families are happy
when their fairy bestows 2-4 quarters (Or the equivalent amount in dimes and nickles) on each child. Of course maybe we are all hayseeds and a bit unsophisticated at heart. Okay, maybe that is just me but I digress again....
I do know that there is no way in Grace's lifetime that she will ever get $20 from the tooth fairy. Especially since she has, on 2 occasions, lost 2 teeth at once. She is to have her last 5 primary teeth removed by a pediatric oral surgeon next month. The darned things seem unwilling to leave their present home base and need to go to make way for her upcoming orthodontic work.
Now, at $20 a pop, well, you can do the math. (Me, maybe not...I am mathphobic after all. I might need to use all my fingers and toes for this one).
She always saves her financial dental windfalls and gives part of each haul to charity. Still, and I am taking the long winded way to reach this question, I want to know if I am just out of touch with the ways of the modern world.
(Uh huh, I KNOW I am on most subjects but, for now, we will stick to this one)Around our neck of the woods, the fairy seems a tad generous...but, in comparison to other parts of the US, old "Tammy" looks like a skinflint! Just what I need, a cheap, tightwad fairy hanging around. Dang.
I hope you are all having a sweet Wednesday.
Hugs,
Susie Q

18 comments:

Cheryl Wray said...

Our Tooth Fairy has always been what i like to call "thrifty" (like the rest of us in the house) and usually leaves a dollar!

Sheila said...

Two dollars sounds just fine to me.
Especially since 'Tammy' already set a precedent, less would now seem churlish. Twenty dollars is over generous I would say. But like you, what do I know...lol

Amy said...

I think the tooth fairy and all the other guys are fabulous. I along with all four of my adult children still have stockings at Christmas and Easter baskets, etc. Hoo! Hoo!

PAT said...

It's been awhile since the Tooth Fairy visited our house! I miss her so much and of course I miss the little munchkins she visited! My munchkins have munchkins, now. The last I heard...my sweet eldest g'daughter was not receiving $20 per tooth!! My 2 younger g'babies haven't lost teeth yet. I believe the $2.00 dear Fairy leaves for Grace is fair, especially nice when left in shiny quarters!

Thank you so much, dear friend Sue, for brightening my day, with this lovely post.

Pat
Back Porch Musings

TK Angels said...

Per conversation with Bill :) I told him of the time Cindy was having her teeth extrated at the dentist and a wonderful lady told Cindy that when you have a tooth "pulled" you would get $4.00 per tooth. Cindy was having 4 teeth pulled at that time.

We had no choice after that one. At least it was only the pulled ones :)

Love,
Terri

Andi said...

The wonderful Tooth Fairy!!! Eight shiny new quarters sound simply wonderful to me...who needs that "folding money"...it just doesn't shine at all!!! As long as Grace "believes" I would treat her to the quarters "Tammy" brings. No need to keep up with anybody where the Tooth Fairy is concerned.

Anonymous said...

$1 in this house is what the tooth fairy leaves

Cassandra said...

Our Tooth Fairy leaves five magical "golden dollars" (our post office machine gives Sacagawea coins as change - I save them for lost teeth). I agree - twenty is definitely steep!

Lisa Oceandreamer Swifka said...

This just had me smiling...first let me tell you when my youngest niece lost her first tooth we were on vaca with my younger brother (her dad) and his wife and other daughter in their motor home. One morning we got up with our coffee and went out where my niece was already sitting gleefully. She then announces the tooth fairy came and left her $50!!! I nearly did a "spit take"(you know it comes shooting out). I said "what? $50?" and she says yes. Now I know my brother has money but pahleeze!! It wasn't until he came out with HIS coffee that we carefully asked the question about the very generous and very wealthy tooth fairy. (while I was planning how to pull my own if that was the going rate). Turns out she received FIVE dollars NOT FIVE-O! Well that saved me from gumming my food and yet still felt $5 was a lot. So in this LOONNNG comment I say I think the 8 quarters sounds just perfect. If she questions what her friends get just tell her the tooth fairy had to cut back due to expenses.heehee
XOXO
Love,Lisa

Nonie said...

I have always told my kids that santa, easter bunny ,tooth fairy,ect are not real. That they are just around to make the day a little more specail. We do like to have fun with it. My kids get a dollar if they lose it normal. But if the have to go to the dentist and get it pulled they get 5 dollars..

Pamela said...

I have become the tooth fairy again. But this time co$t is great. I cracked a tooth in 3 places and after the endodontist said she couldn't repair it - sent me to the oral surgeon. It was the most horrid experience... most horrid.

..... and the amount under THEIR pillows exceeded $1,500. Yes indeed... and more promised if I get an implant to replace it.

Southern Heart said...

Our family's Tooth Fairy always left $1 for the boys' teeth...until a trip to New Orleans (where there obviously lives a Tooth Fairy who either hit the lottery, or is a bit "in-her-cups"). We were all in one hotel room, so we had to wait until the boys were sound asleep for the Tooth Fairy to do her thing.

Being totally in the dark, Mark pulled out a bill and slipped it under the pillow...which my son gleefully pulled out the next morning. Seems that the N'awlins Tooth Fairy hands out $20s, making the Memphis Tooth Fairy a poor country cousin by comparison...

Sugar Bear said...

I don't have any children but I always received one dollar and a small gift like stickers or such. 8 quarters seems like a lovely gift, if Grace asks questions - just tell her it is because her friends teeth weren't in good shape for tooth fairy needs!
Karla

Sheila said...

When my kids were losing their teeth, (Tony started in 1996, Lisa in 1998), "beanie babies" were so popular, and the kids were collecting them. So the tooth fairy always left a beanie baby under their pillow. When the beanie phase was over, then the tooth fairy usually left $5.

Dawn Bibbs said...

This is too(th) funny...hee hee, I crack myself up!

Anyway, we had to stop that tooth fairy thing a long time ago. My oldest is 22 years old now. And I will NEVER forget our attempt at generosity when she lost her first tooth. I had apparently "forgotten" to let the tooth fairy know that my DD had lost a tooth. The next morning, when my daughter woke up and looked under her pillow, she found nothing but a nice drool spot :-). I informed her that the little winged girl called late the night before and said "she didn't have any cash on her and could my daughter wait until the 15th." Hee Hee. Well, my daughter thought it appropriate to ask why didn't the tooth fairy just leave her a check!

With that little episode always in my mind, when the subsequent child lost teeth, we opted out of the tooth fairy business. Not to mention, he's a very light sleeper :-). Now my last child, hasn't lost any yet. However, she is FULLY aware that there's "no such thing" as Santa or the tooth fairy....simply because 5 year olds know EVERYTHING!!!! LOL

Tammy said...

I for one love her faeries name ;)

Cindy said...

I think the tooth fairy only left a couple dollar bills at our house. It's been so long, it's hard to remember!

Anonymous said...

Well, I am writing from the perspective of a Kindergarten teacher. I have not been blessed with children. (yet?) I have seen a WIDE variety of Tooth Fairy traditions.

My funniest story was when one of my students found out that her cousin had recieved a $5 bill from the tooth fairy and she had only recieved $2. She stood up in the middle of carpet time to proclaim to class that she had been visited by the "ghetto tooth fairy." All the other children dropped their jaws in horror! It was so funny, because many of them had no clue what 'ghetto' meant, but just the drama of her proclamation had them worried.

I feel like you should be proud of your tooth fairy tradition, own it, celebrate it and be proud of whatever tradition you have choosen for your family!

Noel
Yuma, AZ
:-)

(I found your blog through a link on Jolene's blog)