The Tooth Fairy

Parental rule of thumb - if anything says "Tooth-fairy, Santa Clause, or The Easter Bunny" don't let your children read it, or read silently to yourself.

Guaranteed I'm not the only mom who has blogged about the Tooth-fairy. I'm sure someone has even wrote a book about her. I've been kickin' it with the Tooth-fairy for 4 years now and I've learned a thing or two along the way.

Recently we watched the movie "Rise of the Guardians", a fun, animated story of heroes. Most importantly staring the accent of Jude Law ( two words - The Holiday ) If you haven't seen Rise of the Guardians, The Tooth-fairy is portrayed as part hummingbird who collects teeth and replaces them with money with the help of an army of mini fairies. She is one of The Guardians of all the children of the world and must make sure they all still "believe"
After seeing this movie, ironically Madison lost a tooth (no joke - things like that just happen to her) she was convinced The Tooth-fairy was just like the one on the movie. She even wrote a 2 page note (front and back) asking if she was the Tooth-fairy from the movie, and declaring her belief in her and her fairies. So cute! Or so I thought.

Thus begins the preparation for the Tooth-fairy's arrival. It's almost as intense as Santa's. When I was a kid, I put my tooth under my pillow, and when I woke up, I had a quarter in it's place. Event over. Now, my kids fill a glass of water and drop the tooth in and leave it beside their bed. That way the Tooth-fairy has to reach in the glass to fetch the tooth and the water will turn the colour of the fairy. They leave her a note, and expect a reply or at least an autograph. There will be a little trail of "sparkle dust" left about from her visit and not a quarter, but a loonie, toonie or even a $5 bill under your pillow. Say whaat? Times sure have changed, and apparently the value of teeth these days. I don't know who came up with these new, fan-dangled ideas but thanks a lot! Like I don't have enough to do, or the brain power to remember all these steps. What if I'm out of food colouring, sparkles or $5 bills? I can't screw this up you know! My children are sensitive and if they think the Tooth-fairy forgot about them, they'd be crushed. I prefer to keep my parental let-downs to a minimum.

Based on my own experience. Here's some Tooth-fairy 911.

1. Teeth can fall out anywhere. Be prepared. The baseball field, the pool, or in a sandwich. You must recover the tooth and guard it with your life until you get it home. Securing it in a ziploc bag is the best way to transport it. Keep one in your purse, baby bag or glove compartment.

2. Always keep a stash of loonies and toonies. I refuse to give out anything more than that. If you're completely out of change, Tim Horton's drivethru is open 24 hours. Buy a timbit, it'll cost you less than 50 cents. Don't be embarrassed to tell them you need change for the Tooth-fairy. You'll be a drive-thru legend.

3. If you're out of food colouring:
- Coloured chalk                            - squeezed strawberry
- Marker                                        - makeup
- Powdered Juice

4. If you're out of glitter:
- Lots of toys or Barbie that has sparkles or glitter on them, you just really have to look.
- Check your kids clothes, or your own. There must be something with cheap, rub-off glitter pasted on.
- Christmas decorations. Everything you have should have glitter on it.

5. If the Tooth-fairy does forget, don't panic. It happens. Tooth-fairies get sick, encounter blizzards or tornadoes. Just don't screw it up the second night though. I have no advice for that.

I'll be honest, I love that my kids are still kids, and believe in everything. That makes parenting fun and enjoyable. I think I secretly enjoy running around at midnight trying to find colours and glitter and re-writing a Tooth-fairy autograph 6 times until it's perfect. It's part of creating their childhood memories, and we all know how important that is :)

Madison's 1st loose tooth!

I love to include pictures, of course. So here's some lost teeth we've experienced along the way!

Jess lost her tooth at a baseball game!