The Tooth Fairy

Hubby and I made a quick trip to Iowa to pick up the two granddaughters, aged 6 and 8, to spend their first ever week with the grandparents!  We made the 11 hour trip home with two super well behaved passengers to begin a whirlwind week.  Everything didn't go quite as planned but we still managed to include visits to The Dollhouse Museum, Fort Harrod State Park, coffee with Hubby (a big deal!), a manicure and pedicure,  a visit to the office, a trip to the creek, and still include  time for a water balloon fight and sprinkler filled day with the cousins. 

The most unexpected event was a surprise visit by the tooth fairy.

The six year old arrived in the kitchen one night filled with impish excitement.  "My tooth is coming out!"  she announced.  "No, it can't!" I replied vigorously.  Confused, she looked at me, "Why not?", she demanded.  "Because it is your first tooth to come out and your mama will be devastated to miss it.  Leave it alone!!"  "OK", she replied dubiously, replacing the finger wiggling the loose tooth with a vigorously probing tongue.  "No!!  Stop!  You have to wait until tomorrow when we meet your mama."  I implored.  Grinning triumphantly, she cried, "It's out!!"  (Sorry, mama)

Holding the tiny tooth up for me to see, she was fairly dancing with excitement.  "Now I can put it under the pillow, like Sissy did, and the tooth fairy will come and give me money!"  (Uh, oh.  I hadn't thought of that!)  "Uh, sure honey.  But first maybe we need to let your mama know about this."  In moments mama and daughter were sharing the news of the newly lost tooth.  After appropriate exclamations, I shooed the little one off to show her new "space" to her grandfather. 

"Ummm.  How does the tooth fairy handle this situation?" I asked.  All tooth fairies are different, I have discovered.  "Well....the tooth fairy usually brings five dollars for the first tooth, then a dollar for the rest."  "FIVE DOLLARS!   Talk about inflation!  You used to get a quarter!"  I sputtered.  "Yeah, and gas cost fifty cents.  Times have changed, Mom."  she replied. 

The next hour was filled with expectations of a visit from the tiny elf.  We spent 30 minutes looking for the tooth pillow that belonged to her mother to hold the tooth safely.  Since I never throw anything away, I was sure I could find it.  However, the pillow remained hidden, so we placed the little tooth in a plastic bag.  She proudly printed her name on the bag so the tooth fairy would know whose it was.  Placing it under her pillow, she lay down and was soon asleep, dreaming of financial windfalls, I'm sure.



Back downstairs I reached for my billfold for the "tooth fairy's" five dollar bill.  About the time I discovered that all I had was a ten and a one, Hubby came in.  "Give me five dollars."  I demanded.  "What for?" he replied, looking around the kitchen as though I had put in a slot machine while he wasn't watching.  "The tooth fairy leaves five dollars!"  "What! Five Dollars!"  "Never mind," I replied, "I've already been down that road.  She says it's inflation.  So give me a five, please."  He pulled out his wallet and discovered that he had a couple of twenties and three ones.  "Well, I'm not giving her a twenty." I muttered, "Keep looking.  I've got a one, so we only need one more."  Digging in his pockets, he said, "I've got maybe a dollar in change."  Trying to figure out how we were going to keep all that change under a pillow all night, I was digging through jean pockets, looking for a stray bill.  "YES!", I yelped, as I found a crumpled (and freshly laundered) bill tucked into a pocket.  Securing the bills with a paper clip (would the tooth fairy have a paper clip?) we slipped back upstairs to carefully place the wad of cash in place of the little tooth.

At six the next morning an explosion occurred in the middle of our bed.  "The tooth fairy came!!" shouted a wiggling mass.  "She left me lots of money!!  How did she find me?  Can we go to town and buy something? "

"Ask me again, after coffee"  I mumbled from under my pillow.

Later that day we tried to exchange her wad of ones for a fresh five dollar bill.  Looking at us as though we were trying to trick her, she looked from her stack to our single bill and firmly shook her head.  "Mine's bigger. I'll keep it." she announced. 

She probably would have been disappointed with a twenty anyway.


Susie is all tuckered out after trying to catch
the Tooth Fairy.