A Note to the Tooth Fairy

To the best of my recollection, I started losing my baby teeth around age seven. My five-year old just lost his third tooth.

And as we all know, when you lose a tooth, the magical tooth fairy comes to your house and replaces the tooth that you've placed under your pillow with a monetary offering.

Back in the early 70s, in my neck of the woods, the tooth fairy left a dime. Yep, you read that right. Of course that was what a pack of baseball cards cost, so it was all right with me. These days, I have it on good authority, the tooth fairy leaves a dollar bill.

And that doesn't even take into account the money his grandparents or aunt gives him. The boy has more money in his bank account than I do.

Well, we had a mini-crisis with lost tooth number three. We're not sure how, but that tooth came out and no one knows how or where it went.

So, we were left with the dilemma of what to do with the tooth fairy. It's pretty clear that she leaves money in exchange for a tooth, but if there's no tooth for her to pick up - can she leave any gift behind?

And this also leaves the question of what the tooth fairy actually does with all of these teeth she collects. I hear she builds houses for people who have lost their homes. The enamel of all of the teeth makes for quite a sturdy structure, I'm sure.

Anyway, we decided the best course of action was to write a letter to the tooth fairy and hope that she would accept that in lieu of the actual tooth. My wife was afraid that the tooth fairy would take the note, but maybe not leave the full amount. This would have been a mini-crisis, as coins have little value for my son. He's a paper money kind of guy.

It was with great relief when we woke up this morning and found that not only did the tooth fairy accept the note, she also gave full value.

It's good to know that the tooth fairy is still such a trusting soul. I remember I lost one of my teeth and was unable to put it under my pillow, too. Except, unlike my son, I know where my tooth went. I was eating chocolate cake and swallowed my tooth. I was horrified.

No, the idea of my tooth in my stomach didn't repel me. Instead it was the thought of missing out on that dime. And still till this day, I can remember the laughter from my brothers and sisters when I expressed why I was so upset. Fortunately the tooth fairy didn't let me down that night, either.

And I didn't even write a note.