Haddie lost her first tooth on Labor Day.
I’ll admit it: my initial thought was not about this fun milestone but rather, I was horrified to think her teeth were rotting out.
After recommitting myself to do a better job at brushing, I turned to more important matters: what to do about the Tooth Fairy.
I was a believer. Jamie was not. From the get-go, his parents told him the Tooth Fairy wasn’t real.
I’m sure they also boiled the Easter Bunny just like on Fatal Attraction and arrested jolly old men wearing a red suit for trespassing.
I’m in the camp where I think it’s fun to play along with these traditions. So much of my childhood magic centered around believing. Of course, it can get taken too far but pimping up a fairy that appears in the night to leave you money?
Sign me up.
Jamie agreed to play along with everything. We had a problem, though: there was no physical evidence of the missing tooth because she likely swallowed it. I posted a query to my Facebook friends about what to do and their responses were very helpful.
Before bedtime, I sat down with Hadley and we wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy explaining our situation. One of my FB friends suggested we also leave the Tooth Fairy a glass of water so she could sprinkle her magic fairy dust that was the same color as her dress.
I loved the idea.
We put Haddie to bed and I started scrounging around for some money. I firmly believe less is more when it comes to setting expectations so I did not want to leave more than $1. Problem is I only had a $10 bill and lots of change. I knew Haddie would deem the tooth fairy a cheapskate if I went the latter route so I went door-to-door begging for a dollar bill.
Funny thing is, none of my neighbors seemed too surprised to see me doing this.
Once Haddie was asleep, I slipped into her room, left a note from the tooth fairy and $1. As for the fairy dust, I had a stroke of brilliance. She is absolutely obsessed with the color yellow and I thought she would be THRILLED to think the tooth fairy wore a dress that very color.
The only thing I hadn’t anticipated is that it would look like the tooth fairy left her very own urine sample.
When Haddie found it in the morning, she naively sniffed it and said, “Yeah, it smells like water.”
Just don’t be surprised if you hear of any news reports about the Tooth Fairy being arrested for lewd conduct.
Do you let your children believe in the Tooth Fairy? If so, how much do you leave for each tooth?
P.S. Mile High Mamas, be sure to checkout my synopsis of the fantastic party I threw with Mom It Forward last week. It’s not every day your party-goers jump in the pool fully clothed!
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 