Big weekend for the Allain household, and no I’m not talking about my first assigned writing piece getting front page love from The Daily Beast.
On Friday night Parker lost one of his front teeth!
Let’s go to the video
Going through the whole Tooth Fairy routine this weekend reminded me of a few thoughts I needed to share.
1. It is actually fun to lie to your kids – We don’t do the whole Santa Claus thing because neither of us grew up with it. So the Tooth Fairy is the only pretend being we try to pass off as real to our kids. (All my athiest readers are shouting “How about God!” at their screens right now. Settle down, atheist readers, no need to shout.)
My kids are 99.8% sure that the Tooth Fairy doesn’t exist, but I still haven’t cracked and given in yet. It’s kind of fun to hold it over them and toy with their perception of reality.
2. The tooth exchange is surprisingly nerve-racking – Even if they’ve been sleeping for a few hours, even if I can make the switch in 10 seconds, even if it’s super dark in the room, I’m still petrified of them waking up while I’m doing the exchange and catching me in the act.
I make sure they put the tooth in a plastic baggy before it goes under the pillow so I can find it easier, but it’s still tricky. You’ve got to exchange the baggy for a buck without waking them up. Because if they catch you doing it, you’re never gonna hear the end of it. (Has this happened to anyone out there? I’d love to hear about it.)
3. Forgetting to make the exchange makes for an awful morning – Last year I completely spaced out on making the exchange for Parker’s second lost tooth. He came downstairs when he woke up looking like his world had just collapsed.
I think I came up with some story about how when the Tooth Fairy forgets a house, she usually feels bad and bring twice the money the next night. Hey, might as well start teaching the kids now that throwing more money at a problem makes it go away in case they ever want to go into politics.
4. Your kid gets a new face – Especially great if it’s one of their front teeth. Then you get a slightly different voice too.
5. Giving the tooth back is a whole other story – So the kids want their teeth back to add them to their teeth collection. But the tooth fairy has them. What to do? Concoct an elaborate story about how I got the tooth back from the fairy?
Not really.
I just tell them that after the tooth fairy makes the exchange she drops the tooth off in my closet. I mean, what else was she supposed to do with it?
What about you: Any stories from childhood or parenting involving losing teeth?
Posted by Bryan AllainTags: Losing Teeth, Tooth Fairy
One year I too forgot to… I mean the Tooth Fairy forgot to leave money for my daughter. When she came out dejectedly holding her tooth, I was pleased to announce that the Tooth Fairy told me to give her $5 for the mix-up. The Tooth Fairy had also given me instructions on how to mail the tooth to her. My daughter and I exchanged goods — a Lincoln for a tooth with dried blood on it.
I figure we’ve got about 1 more year until the teeth start falling out, but my oldest is already talking about it! My parents solved the exchange issue by giving me a special Tooth Fairy pillow with a pocket for the tooth/money exchange. It had to stay at the foot of the bed because the tooth fairy was too little to reach under my sleeping pillow. I realize now how much easier that made my parents’ job!
BTW: Awesome article Bryan!
I was so cheesed off when I lost my first tooth and the tooth fairy had only left me a quarter! When I lost my next tooth I wrote her a note and taped my tooth to it that the price for teeth had gone up to a dollar, thank you very much! My parents remember getting the note and wondering how I did not wake up from the howling laughter. My older cousin must have surreptitiously helped me write the note…
Years ago when our boy was in his more gullible years, he wanted to know, in great detail what was going to happen to his tooth if “he decides” to stick it under his pillow. After the” tooth fairy talk” he drifted off to sleep. Early the next morning my wife proceeded to do the swap however she couldn’t find the tooth (we should have done the Bryan Allain baggie trick) so she just stuck the dollar under the pillow and went on her merry way. Later that morning he came down stairs like nothing was new. Excitedly my wife asked him “did the tooth fairy come?” He replied, “OH!”…., “I didn’t check yet”. Instead of going up to his bedroom he walked over to the dogs pillow, lifted it and said “nope, my tooth is still under here”. Apparently he decided he didn’t like the idea of this “Tooth Fairy” coming in his bedroom after the lights were off and he felt that the dog wouldn’t mind.LOL
My son recently lost one of his teeth, prompting us to begin the legend of the tooth fairy as well. We placed the tooth in an old jewelry box by the bed (easier than digging under a pillow, we thought), and the following morning, lo and behold, inside the box were 2 quarters! A few days later, he announced that he had lost another tooth, and again, the fairy came through.
The next morning, though, the three of us (my son, my wife, and myself) were all surprised to find that he had lost a third tooth as well. My son began to grow upset that, not only had he not noticed the tooth had fallen out, but now he didn’t have anything to “trade”. So, while he was distracted, I slipped two quarters off my dresser, and went to his room to “double-check”. My son followed closely behind.
Picking up the box, I asked my son, “How many quarters did you say the tooth fairy left you?”
“Two, I thought,” he replied.
Through a smidgen of amateurish slight-of-hand, I turned the box around to show the (now) four quarters resting inside. “Looks like the tooth fairy knew what happened, kiddo.”
His smile was one of the brightest I’ve seen in a while. Sometimes the credulity of a child is the best thing ever.
My sister-in-law told me that she was so afraid of the tooth fairy, when she lost her first tooth, she had her mom write a note telling the tooth fairy to never come into her room. Rather, she will put her tooth in the dining room (opposite end of the house from her room) and she can leave the money there.
Ha ha ha!!!
I can’t remember my teeth either being not quite loose or hanging by a thread, so I really don’t know in which category I fall. Although, given my impatient nature, I probably wiggled them until they gave up and dropped into my hand.
My oldest daughter laid awake for hours pretending to be asleep so she could catch me. I told her that, unfortunately, since she didn’t “believe” anymore, there was no point in the game–no more money for teeth. So she went back to believing.
As I have gotten older (11 years from first to last child), we have a tooth fairy who [frequently] pays double for not making it the first night. She’s awfully forgetful!
My dad would pull out the pliers and pull’em out. =D haha
Good times.
He’d have to convince to let him do it though. The plier looked more menacing than they really were. If they were loose enough they’d pop right out. If not, I’d wait another week then get them pliers pulled out again. =D