Emily lost her first tooth last Saturday. We were having dinner with friends in the backyard and she lost a front tooth (on the bottom) while eating dinner. At first her and her friend were horrified and started screaming because Emily was holding a tooth with her mouth full of food and blood coming down her chin. But after we realized what happened, she got pretty excited.
It was kind of a big deal for her, and for Patti. I thought it was kind of gross, but it's been a long time since losing a tooth was cool.
So Patti put the tooth in a glass of water at night and left it in the bathroom for the tooth fairy to delivery money. I, and about 99% of the world, thought leaving it under a pillow was the more appropriate approach, but hey, what do I know. The other question was how much money to leave. When I was a kid, we got a quarter. Back then, you could buy a week's worth of breakfast or a powerboat with a quarter, but times are different. So we ended up writing her a blank check and leaving a credit card with a note from the tooth fairy that she can go crazy. Truth, we left 4 quarters but an informal poll taken the following week had us under valuing the tooth. Others, including a dentist from the same town we live in, say 3-5 dollars is more like it. Since Emily doesn't need money, we are going to stick with a dollar for now.
A friend who is an elementary school teacher told me her students will often NOT tell the parent and put the tooth under the pillow to test the theory of the tooth fairy. Her very clever way of helping out the parents is that she told the students to tell her, the teacher, and then she will (on the sly) tell the parent. Nice. Although, it still doesn't help prove if there is or is not a tooth fairy.
At soccer on Sunday Emily walked around smiling broadly to show everyone her missing tooth. She looked kind of creepy walking around with a big grin and a gap in her mouth, shin pads and a red soccer shirt on. But she had her fun.
So now we anxiously await her next tooth so we can leave it in a glass of water in the bathroom so the tooth fairy can brush her teeth and take a quick shower before leaving the cash.
Just thought I'd share.