Tooth Fairy's First Visit

Last Sunday was a big day in our household: our oldest Bobby lost his first tooth! Nearing 7, he's pretty old to still have all his baby teeth, but the dentist says that's actually a good thing. When it first began to wiggle a month ago, I should have devised my plan for its eventual debut. What would the Tooth Fairy bring? What's the going rate these days? Should she do something special for the FIRST tooth? This is important because a precedent is being set for his siblings too. Yes, all these questions were on my "to do" list, but when the tooth came out suddenly on Sunday evening, the Tooth Fairy was not prepared!

I was actually running an errand when my husband called to tell me the news. I swung into Weigel's for some milk and asked the cashier for anything special in her drawer. "I have one gold dollar coin and two $.50 pieces." "I'll take them," I said. When I returned home to see an exuberant boy bouncing off the walls, I knew we had to make this special. I fished around in our odds and ends basket for two Susan B. Anthony coins, and Bob found another gold dollar coin in his dresser. Great! We now have $5 in special coins. He'll love it.

Just before bed, Bobby began asking questions. "What does the Tooth Fairy look like?" "I don't know. She may be so small, no one has ever seen her," I replied. "I'll write her a note," he decided. And this is what it said, his spelling and all: "I wont your picshture or foto please on the bac. Biey Bobby." With such an ernest request, the Tooth Fairy had no choice but to comply. Thank goodness for the Internet.

Once he was in bed, I began searching for images online. Most of them wanted money for them or would only print with the image credit blazed across her chest. This one and this one were a little scary. This one is downright terrifying. An extremist was even touting, "The Tooth Fairy teaches children they can sell their body parts for money." Chill out! Several sites were charging for a custom something or other (they lost me at charging me money). Thankfully, I found this free printable certificate, signed "Toothie the Tooth Fairy" along with a picture of a blonde fairy with a wand. Done.

Wanting to ensure his expectations did not count on $5 for every tooth, Toothie wrote on the back of his note that the $5 in special coins was only for the first tooth. He would receive $1 for each additional tooth. The next morning he was all aflutter with the bag of coins and his certificate. The picture wasn't quite what he had in mind, but he seemed to accept the money plan as a fact not to be contested.

All and all, I'd consider it a success. Maybe we should have found him a special pillow or sprinkled "fairy dust" (glitter), but seeing his new smile with one less tooth was all that mattered. Long live the magic!