The tooth fairy

By Robin

Last night Lillianna lost her sixth baby tooth. Before I got home from work she tucked her tooth inside the pocket of her tooth fairy pillow and wrote a note in the living room on her large chalkboard asking what the tooth fairy does with the teeth she collects. Then she went to bed.

We have decided that there must be many tooth fairies in this magical world of ours. Our dentist claims his tooth fairy as a child was a man. Lillianna believes hers is a tiny 4 inch woman! I have never seen the tooth fairy so I can't say for sure. All I know is I didn't give my own tooth fairy much thought as long as she left those quarters under my pillow.

Lillianna's tooth fairy always leaves her a tiny note wrapped in dental floss and $5 in the pillow pocket. Last night she got an extra surprise, sugarless bubble gum, since Lillianna has just learned to blow bubbles! The tooth fairy, like Santa Claus, always sees what is going on in her life. Lillianna likes that connection.

The tooth fairy's note explained what she does with the teeth. She puts them in a large container until she has one million and then she grinds them into dust. She flies as high as she can and then sprinkles the dust in a swirling motion until a star forms. She encouraged Lillianna to be a good brusher because the brighter her smile is the brighter the stars will be.

Lillianna told me today that her classmate's tooth fairy makes little tooth castles for other fairies with the teeth she collects. That got me thinking.

What was your tooth fairy like when you were a child? What is your child's tooth fairy like?

Comments

[LA Adams]

Thank you so much for explaining what happens to all the teeth the tooth fairy gets, Rachel wanted to know. It's nice that they make beautiful stars in the sky.

[Jo]

Ah, the tooth fairy. I loved the tooth fairy when I was a little girl. I remember that whenever a tooth would grow loose, I would twist and turn it with my tongue to get it to fall out faster. Of course once it did, all I had to do was place it under my pillow and the next day, I would find a pack of gum, a sweet note, and a little trinket under my pillow.

My son is only 4.5 months old, so we are just now working on growing the teeth that will one day fall out. He indeed will get to know the tooth fairy as I did. It is such a precious thing to experience. I am sure I will covet those little teeth; his tooth fairy will have to beg quite a bit to get them away from me. Unless of course, she promises to give Liam a star of HIS own too....(yours is a cute story!)

[Marcia]

My kids are too little to have lost any teeth yet and I'm really dreading it! I'll feel like they're big kids once it happens. My 5 year old just had a dental checkup and the dentist noticed that her lower teeth are a bit loose. Noooooooooo

[mvh]

When I was a little girl, my mom would 'call' the tooth fairy on the phone. In reality, she was just talking to the dial tone. But to me it looked like she was so friendly with the tooth fairy that she could call her directly. She'd be like "Yes, mmhmmm, that's correct, she lost another one. Yes, that's still our address. OK, thanks so much." I completely bought it at the time and it is still one of the most endearing images I have of my mom.

[Courtney]

I LOVE the idea of making bright stars with your teeth! That's great! I'll have to remember that when I have kids.

[Emily]

When I was getting visit's,all I cared about was how much money the little thing left me.lol

[Meg]

As a child, my tooth fairy never had a personality. We never really gave her any thought whatsoever. She just dropped off the quarters and took my teeth. I never even considered actually personifying her any more, either as a child or as an adult. I'm sad to say, my kids' tooth fairy is just as boring. =o(

[Kevin]

When I was a kid, the Tooth Fairy left me money. Not a lot of money...like 50 cents or something (which I promptly used to buy a couple candy bars at the store). Now, with my kids, the Tooth Fairy doesn't bring money. The Tooth Fairy brings a book (or two, depending on how the tooth was lost).