The Toothfairy

The toothfairy is as real as any of the fairies out there.  She is a more frequent guest in our home than Santa or the Easter Bunny, and frankly she get far less press for all that she does.  I mean she is on call 24/7!  She has very few TV specials and doesn't capture a certain time of year.  I don't see any other fairies or other holiday giving characters working quite as hard.  She is dedicated to each child for perhaps 5 or more years of teeth falling out.  And the cost involved is...WOW!  Must be quite the castle she is buliding.  How is that being financed?  I mean in my own home the price per tooth is somewhere in between 1 and 2 dollars.  She generally leaves a random amount of coins along with a dollar bill.

Remember the excitement of waking in the morning and for the price of a little white tooth you don't need anyway because a bigger and better one is coming in?  And for that you are left money!!  The leprauchans leave chocolate coins, but you have to clean up the mess, Santa leaves gifts, but you have to be a good kid, the Easter bunny leaves a eggs but you have to search for them...Everyone but the toothfairy.  She simply steals into your room and leaves the lute.  No strings attached, unless of course you used the string and door trick to get it out in the first place.  Which brings me to another point!  She is also the most daring of all!  Sneaking right into your room..reaching under your pillow!  It seems like a lot of pressure..my heart would be racing at the thought of being caught and thereby changing the entire childhood perception of loosing a tooth.

My son lost a tooth recently.  It was late at night, about 9:30 and in the morning he found that the toothfairy did not come.  With lightning speed recovery it was suggested that perhaps she was already on her route when the tooth was lost and therefore could not squeeze him in.  Since he is ten, the possibility rung true and his patience allowed him to wait another night.  My 5 year old just explained that what had happened was that the toothfairy was in another child's room when her bracelet went off to let her know my son had lost his tooth.  She had put her bracelet on silence so as not to awaken the other child..smart fairy!   Tales of the tooth fairy trail back to the early 1900's and perhaps earlier with the tooth being protected from falling into a witch's hands.  The price of a tooth has moved  forward too keeping up with inflation if not better. So it would seem that the toothfairy not only has kept up with if not surpassed inflation, she also utizilizes the latest technology  in her efforts to reach our children with her gifts.

The toothfairy as we know her in our house is using the teeth to build her castle.  My son believes the cleaner the tooth, the more money.  My other daughter, with her silver crowned tooth, is certain that this will have the greatest payoff.  No matter the truth, the tooth fairy brings smiles and ease to what could otherwise be an awkward time for a child.  And I am thinking with all she has to attend to we ought to more fully recognize her in some small way:  A day off?  a claymation TV special?  A picture session booth at the mall?  The possiblities are endless!  How about a song? Shouldn't we leave her some toothpaste or floss........