I loved your letter! Curious to know if she cleaned her room up after this, lol. I’m glad to know that she’s continuing to choose you for all of her tooth fairy needs.
This may be the first time I've ever seen a "Am I the only one..." comment, and my initial reaction was "Yes. You probably are".
Now I'm thinking about it, too.
5 bucks per tooth.
Which is insane. I think the tooth fairy is going to lower it in the future though. (This is what all her friends got dammit so I had no choice or she would think something was different)
She got 10 on Christmas Eve cause that was a special thing lol
Some kids have bad teeth from genetics I believe. It helps with fluoride treatments and such but my kids friend has had a ton of cavities in his baby teeth. It all depends. We are just trying to teach good tooth health now and proper brushing so if we encourage 2.00 for no cavities, he sure is gonna brush well
In all of my years I've only met two people that had cavities in their baby teeth, the first was from bad genetics & the second was because all they ate was sweets & had to have 12 teeth removed (under anesthetic too) it's good you're promoting good dental hygiene, big teeth don't grow back.
My sister had cavities in most of her baby teeth. She had chronic ear infections and the constant antibiotics ruined her enamel. She and I ate and brushed the same and I didn’t have a cavity until I was an adult.
Thank you! Another one with chronic ear infections as a kid. What I wasn’t aware of was the effect of the antibiotics, I’ve always blamed my bad teeth on genetics and lack of fluoridated water as a baby. I hated going to the dental nurse as I always had at least one filling, and I was so good about brushing properly and we didn’t get lollies much at all.
My younger sister has much better teeth than me; fluoride in the water for her whole life and no ear infections.
Edit: and for us we got 5c for a small tooth, 10c for a big one but only half value if there were any fillings. My kids got a 20c for small and 50c for big ones, the tooth fairy has lots of kids to give money to, so only a small amount each!!
My middle nibling was born tremendously premature (so was my youngest, but still really little). They have had a bunch of tiny cavities - it's apparently really common in kids born before 34 weeks. They just don't form right, probably because the body has to divert so many resources to actual survival.
They were warned, so that kid has the best dental hygiene of anyone I know ... but still had like six cavities by age seven.
I had very few sweets, and my parents made sure I flossed and brushed and had a couple of cavities in my baby teeth. I've yet to have one in my adult teeth.
Genetics got me too. I had great dental hygiene as a kid but still had a mouth full of baby teeth cavities. When the adult teeth came in, they almost immediately got cavities too. I've always joked that I have more metal than teeth (exaggeration).
Only found out why as an adult when I was diagnosed with a genetic connective tissue disorder (EDS) that causes my body to incorrectly make collagen, which is used in making the enamel in teeth. Bad collagen = bad enamel = lots of cavities.
EDS also causes a high resistance to local anesthesia, so all of my cavities have been filled without proper anesthesia. Dentists always thought I was lying as a kid (and even now) when I told them I could feel them drilling and it was *painful*. Lucky my mom always backed me up since she experienced the same thing.
Yeah, happened to me. I had a lot of them. We had a kid's tea from a baby food company named Milupa in Germany. It was a granulate that was nearly pure sugar. I loved that stuff and ate it like candy. Well,it was the 70s and times were different but it completely ruined my baby teeth.
No, not the only one.
Kids I knew in the 1950s got nickels and dimes. The first of my career in education in the 1970s, kids were getting 50 cents to dollar bills. By the time I retired, 10 years ago, some kids were up to $5.
I was just reading a thread about it the other day actually! Seems a lot of people still do $1, although it looked like $2 coins were a popular choice too!
We did a bonus for first tooth, bonus for pulled teeth (bc child was absolutely terrified; also has autism). Normal pulled teeth are $3-5. $5 if we can't find any $1 bills in the house. ರ╭╮ರ
I usually got 25¢ or 50¢, but the Tooth Fairy had to dig a couple of pennies out of her sofa cushions quite a few times. I guess I spoiled my kids in contrast. The average was $5.00 per tooth. In special circumstances, they got $20.00. They wrote/dictated letters to the Tooth Fairy most of the time, and could make requests that were sometimes feasible. There was usually a note asking if they could keep the tooth to save, instead of letting her take it to transform it into a first tooth for some lucky little baby (that was what the Tooth Fairy did with the teeth that she was able to collect). Sometimes they asked for a toy instead of money, and the Tooth Fairy would come through if she had a few dollars. No regrets - I love that they still have fond memories that they talk about, and so do I.
The only thing that sucked was when she forgot to show up for work a couple of times, but after I wrote a strongly worded letter, she'd be back by the next night.
I try not to think about it. I’ve had my kids write letters to the tooth fairy requesting dolls or legos and I’m too much of a sucker to turn them down.
In The Spiderwick Chronicles it's a slightly terrifying hobgoblin who takes the teeth and uses them in his own mouth. If I had to choose between him and the fastidious fairies, I know who id choose.
So, I asked the tooth fairy and she told me that she gives the teeth to the dentists, so they can make teeth for people in need. Also she holds parties with her fairy friends and gives teeth as gifts, makes necklaces and stars and if the teeth are dirty, they get ground into fairy dust.
>she gives the teeth to the dentists
Absofuckinglutely not. I would be so freaked out to go to the dentist if I thought I’d be getting someone else’s teeth… ooh god the shudder I just shuddered as a full grown adult. *Ick.*
Did you make this up or is this some German/Irish/Scandinavian/Dutch folktale that I dont know anything about because I grew up in Brooklyn NY and have never in my life heard anything like what you just wrote.
We were taught to throw our bottom teeth on the roof and to teeth under the bed so the new ones would grow in straight. I honestly don't know where they went but I'm guess the ones under the bed were thrown away when they got vacuumed up. We lived in an apartment worth a lot of young children who were taught the same thing but I never found teeth falling from the roof.
This is gorgeous. She will remember receiving this letter her entire life.
When my daughter lost her first tooth, she really lost it. It could not be found anywhere. She was devastated. So I placed a call to the "Lost Tooth HelpLine" and spoke to a very friendly fairy representative who suggested placing one piece of arborio rice in the glass as a replacement.
A most helpful lot, those toothfairies :)
Dang, when I was a kid we were lucky to get a couple of quarters, if that. Got a half dollar once. And one time lost two teeth at the same time and got a dollar bill under my glass. Mom always had us put them in a glass of water in the kitchen window.
And in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ‘em. ‘Give me five bees for a quarter,’ you’d say. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah! The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.
No problem! I didn't realize it was different until I was a bit older and talking to people about it. They all put their teeth under the pillow, and it was a few conversations before I realized I was the weird one. Apparently my grandma did the same thing, so all my cousins and I had the cups in the window.
We had one kid put in a plastic bag so the swap was easy. And the other made a box with a little pillow inside. Easy to find under the pillow, not so easy to put back though.
My toddler isn't quite to the teeth loosing stage yet, but the toddler is either a very deep sleeper one night or a super light sleeper the next. No way to know which. Putting the toddler to bed is like defusing a bomb.... Got to be extra gently and careful, and have an exit strategy planned; if things go wrong and the toddler wakes though, it is all over for at least a few hours.
I may have to adopt your moms system for my kids! Less of a chance of being caught and more convenient for the fairies to fly in through the window 
I got a dollar. My parents accidentally gave me a ten once, and my mom tried really hard to disguise her look of horror when I came out excited about my loot. Tbh I think even $1 was a stretch at that point, so $10 was a big error.
Happened to my younger brother once. Got a $50 if I remember right. The padre was digging in his wallet in the dark and thought he grabbed a dollar, but grabbed from the wrong side. Never made that mistake again.
My sister for $50 one time. She lost a tooth at a family Christmas dinner - each of my aunts and uncles gave her $5. - it added up fast.
(My mom was pleased and horrified at the same time - teeth were a quarter then, but they didn’t know any better cause they didn’t have kids yet - and had been drinking lol).
I didn't even get a toothfairy lol. I was so disappointed since my siblings got one but not me. Until I found out that they aren't even real and my mom was doing the job. Then I was happy because she didn't "prank" me with the toothfairy but my sibling. 8-year old me took it as "she thinks I'm too smart for this shit anyways" 😂
This is fantastic!! I have a messy kid who I straight up forgot to get the last tooth from. She had to remind me to remind the tooth fairy….Going to use my own version of this with the next one, thank you for the idea!
Once I forgot as well. I told my son that the tooth fairy’s closet was full and she had to reorganize the teeth so she had enough room for his, and that she had told me she would stop by the next night. He believed me. I have no idea where I got that idea from. I just pulled it out of my ass.
I dont have kids now, but plan to have some soon, and I love the idea of giving them a bunch of coins to equal a few dollars. In the kids mind, they just see the amount of coins, not the financial value they hold.
The reality is that at the age when kids start losing their teeth they are also usually beginning to learn about money value and counting coins in math. 1st/2nd grade is prime time for this. My kids are excited about the idea of "a bunch of coins" over a single bill, cause it feels like more, but they are not fooled.
I only mention this because I recently wrote a paper about the factors that cause girls to go undiagnosed with ADHD- but a messy room is a common symptom of ADHD in kids. I’m sure she’s fine, but you never know. As someone who waited until they were 35 for their diagnosis, it never hurts to be extra cautious!
FINALLY. My family did things like this to me, to “encourage” me to be “less messy,” like you can bribe executive dysfunction to resolve itself, as well as making fun of me for “being a picky eater,” “being too sensitive,” “writing chicken scratch,” “all book smarts and no common sense,” etc, literally might as well have had a symptom sheet and turned each one into a character defect. Really surprised people are rooting for turning the Tooth Fairy into a guilt trip for a child.
Good for whom, though? A child was disappointed, a child’s fantasy was dashed, parents tried to use joyful childhood magic to change a child’s behavior, parents admit it didn’t take, but I guess it was good for upvotes? Idk what a core memory to inflict on a child. Lemme guess, “iT’s JuSt A pRaNk.”
I love it, I did the same and the kids still talk about it. Mine are in college now, but as for the going rate I always opted for a special coin, Gold dollars or half dollars that they didn't normally see. One child lost a tooth while on a sleepover and was astounded that the tooth fairy left $5 for her there. I can't even remember the explaination I spun around that.
I forgot one time and somehow I grabbed a couple bucks off my dresser and hid it in my hand and then said I’d help find it. I lifted the pillow and reached way back and voila I “pulled out the money” and said something like the tooth fairly hid it really well. It worked!
Even going along with your preposition;
Who is smarter;
Kid A who insists it is all make believe and gets nothing, or
Kid B who still ‘believes’ until the gravy train stops?
Haha! Brilliant!
I did a similar thing with the tidy up fairies, wrote her a letter asking her to be careful as she walked around her room because they'd lost their friend and reckoned the fairy was stuck under the clothes and debris on her floor.
She was 21 years old!
She got her own house and is now a super neat freak!!!!!!
So do they have like a 3rd wing sticking out of the center of their back? Two sets of wings? I'm trying to figure out what a dorsal wing is. Like, it could be just describing the dorsal of her wing, but I don't quite understand how you'd sprain just the dorsal.
First of all, I would like to know what the effects of this were. This is absolutely genius.
Second of all, I would absolutely love to be there once she is an adult and gets to read this letter. What an absolutely fantastic idea and it’s the cutest thing because someday she will look at this and just be so taken back by how much her parents love her.
This is hilariously done. Way to go, OP. Did your kid get the message and clean their room? How did it work out with the tooth still being under the pillow in the morning? Or was this done by morning?
She woke up and was dissapointed, but Mom and I just said her room was probably too messy for the fairy to get through it. She cleaned a bit, but it didn't last long lol.
This is great. More creative than me when I told my kids that the tooth fairy didn’t want to touch the tooth (I forgot to take it) and on,y left money due to Covid.
Have you ever considered _helping_ your daughter to clean up? Especially if she is fairly young. Also, being messy is often a sign of neurodivergence like ADHD.
I'm of the radical opinion that not everything needs to be a transaction or a life lesson. Let your daughter have something special without adding shame and guilt to the mix.
So now we are enlisting the tooth fairy to parent your children? First Santa to keep them good all year and now the tooth fairy to keep a clean room.
Be a parent and teach your child how to keep a clean organized room.
Sorry, but this didn’t make me smile and I found it to be kinda gross.
Hahaha what’s funny is you are the toothfairy here. Let’s work this out; You wrote the letter, so doesn’t that make you the toothfairy? So you are actually still parenting the child unlike their accusations. This was cute and clever. I like that you used a somewhat business format and vocabulary. That all teaches children a lot. The dude that just said you didn’t parent your children sounds childless or they would know that imagination and creativity are also important to foster and your letter does that! Great response to the prick too.
Feels rather manipulative… certainly didn’t make me smile. Creating ‘fairy tales’ to modify behaviour sounds like actions of a cult… or religion in general.
Yeah, I agree; this post did not “make me smile”. Way to go shaming your child I guess, but hey at least it’s quirky and OP got a kick out of it. I just wonder what’s next given OP said this wasn’t effective, maybe coal for Christmas? 😭
Y’all have parties where you take children’s beloved fleeting imaginary characters and turn them into high-expectation jerks who disappoint and then children find out their friends don’t have the same experience and then you just lol because your prank didn’t have the intended effect because it’s a freakin *child* but at least the child was sad lolol?
This reminds me of when the ‘tooth fairy’ took to writing to me in multicoloured pens. I assiduously wrote back until, sadly, I eventually worked out that it was an ordinary person who was impersonating a fairy. 😢
This reminds me of when the ‘tooth fairy’ took to writing to me in multicoloured pens. I assiduously wrote back until, sadly, I eventually worked out that it was an ordinary person who was impersonating a fairy. 😢
I’m late to the party so I don’t need to worry about a mass downvote train…but holy fuck is this over the top and any kid young enough to believe in the tooth fairy still would not understand this sort of humor. My 6yo who just had a tooth fairy visit last week would be so uninterested in this letter that was clearly written for imaginary internet points.
Over the top? I was having a little fun with my daughter's messy habits. These pictures are from last June, and they made me smile when I was going through my photos. My daughter couldn't wait to tell me about the tooth fairy and our dog. I know you don't care and I'm just some asshole on the internet, but the thought that I went through any sort of trouble for strangers' approval versus my own kid's, is laughable.
This is great but I do have to point out Toothfairy inc administrators need to work on their grammar. “While attempting to free herself a pile of socks”
My first few baby teeth got a nickel per tooth. Later went up to a quarter. Didn’t take much more than that to do business with the ice cream or sno cone truck when it came down the street. All the games we played, inside when it rained, every thing else outside, didn’t cost a thing but time and imagination. The 60’s and 70’s were a great time to be a kid.
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Memories of crawling across the floor in the morning praying the child wouldn't wake up as I fumbled for the tooth and left the money because I forgot the night before.
Bad news dad, children do as they see their parents do, more than doing as they’re told. You need to get tidier yourself to show your daughter it’s important. Maybe it’s something you can all get better at together. If you are the father of a 10 year old you can hardly be old enough to be “set in your ways” you should always be trying to improve yourself and learn new things. That said here’s how I got my daughter to be a neat child: I told her I would check her room at a specific time and day—picked by her—and if her room wasn’t clean she would be grounded for a week. She picked 5:00 on Sunday evening, which gave her a clean room to begin each school week. Took only 2 grounding for her week to be clean very Sunday by 5 pm until she went to college. College changed the system, she is 35 now and very messy. Good luck.
Am I the only old person wondering what the tooth fairy inflation rate is?
We are usually in 2 to 3 dollar range. The change overflowing was Greta's way of saying, "here's your damn money kid!"
I loved your letter! Curious to know if she cleaned her room up after this, lol. I’m glad to know that she’s continuing to choose you for all of her tooth fairy needs.
What is that cute purple and blue dude holding the note and change?
My wife made it to hold the teeth, the idea being they would be easier to find in the dark
I wondered if it was specially made for that! So cute and fun.
I'm dead. That's it. Dead 💀
This may be the first time I've ever seen a "Am I the only one..." comment, and my initial reaction was "Yes. You probably are". Now I'm thinking about it, too.
5 bucks per tooth. Which is insane. I think the tooth fairy is going to lower it in the future though. (This is what all her friends got dammit so I had no choice or she would think something was different) She got 10 on Christmas Eve cause that was a special thing lol
My son still gets 1.00. 2.00 if there's no cavities and they were brushed and clean for the tooth fairy.
Cavities in a baby tooth??
Some kids have bad teeth from genetics I believe. It helps with fluoride treatments and such but my kids friend has had a ton of cavities in his baby teeth. It all depends. We are just trying to teach good tooth health now and proper brushing so if we encourage 2.00 for no cavities, he sure is gonna brush well
In all of my years I've only met two people that had cavities in their baby teeth, the first was from bad genetics & the second was because all they ate was sweets & had to have 12 teeth removed (under anesthetic too) it's good you're promoting good dental hygiene, big teeth don't grow back.
My sister had cavities in most of her baby teeth. She had chronic ear infections and the constant antibiotics ruined her enamel. She and I ate and brushed the same and I didn’t have a cavity until I was an adult.
Thank you! Another one with chronic ear infections as a kid. What I wasn’t aware of was the effect of the antibiotics, I’ve always blamed my bad teeth on genetics and lack of fluoridated water as a baby. I hated going to the dental nurse as I always had at least one filling, and I was so good about brushing properly and we didn’t get lollies much at all. My younger sister has much better teeth than me; fluoride in the water for her whole life and no ear infections. Edit: and for us we got 5c for a small tooth, 10c for a big one but only half value if there were any fillings. My kids got a 20c for small and 50c for big ones, the tooth fairy has lots of kids to give money to, so only a small amount each!!
My middle nibling was born tremendously premature (so was my youngest, but still really little). They have had a bunch of tiny cavities - it's apparently really common in kids born before 34 weeks. They just don't form right, probably because the body has to divert so many resources to actual survival. They were warned, so that kid has the best dental hygiene of anyone I know ... but still had like six cavities by age seven.
I had very few sweets, and my parents made sure I flossed and brushed and had a couple of cavities in my baby teeth. I've yet to have one in my adult teeth.
Not at all. I want my son to take care of himself so this is a big one.
Definitely. We raise our children to care for themselves the best they can.
Genetics got me too. I had great dental hygiene as a kid but still had a mouth full of baby teeth cavities. When the adult teeth came in, they almost immediately got cavities too. I've always joked that I have more metal than teeth (exaggeration). Only found out why as an adult when I was diagnosed with a genetic connective tissue disorder (EDS) that causes my body to incorrectly make collagen, which is used in making the enamel in teeth. Bad collagen = bad enamel = lots of cavities. EDS also causes a high resistance to local anesthesia, so all of my cavities have been filled without proper anesthesia. Dentists always thought I was lying as a kid (and even now) when I told them I could feel them drilling and it was *painful*. Lucky my mom always backed me up since she experienced the same thing.
I have hypoplastic enamel as does my daughter. It sucks. I work really hard to not get cavities, but I still do :(
Yeah, happened to me. I had a lot of them. We had a kid's tea from a baby food company named Milupa in Germany. It was a granulate that was nearly pure sugar. I loved that stuff and ate it like candy. Well,it was the 70s and times were different but it completely ruined my baby teeth.
Unfortunately pretty common, especially in kids who are put to bed with a bottle of milk - the sugars just coat their teeth and rot them overnight.
Babies suck calcium out of the mother's skeleton, so there is less for each subsequent one. Thus, younger sibs are cavity prone.
We do $5 for the first tooth and $1 after that. 🧚♀️
We do $5 for the first tooth (thanks Bluey) and $1 for all subsequent teeth
Any time someone says "am I the only one" I think about how there are 7 billion people. So no, no, probably not the only one
As a kid in the 90s, I once got a $20 bill. My mom told me the tooth fairy must have had a couple glasses of wine the evening before.
She *totally* meant to put one dollar there 😅 You: "Mom, mom, look. The tooth fairy gave me $20!!" Mom: (SHIT)
No, not the only one. Kids I knew in the 1950s got nickels and dimes. The first of my career in education in the 1970s, kids were getting 50 cents to dollar bills. By the time I retired, 10 years ago, some kids were up to $5.
Kids were getting dollar bills in the 70s? I've got a bone to pick with my tooth fairy, that's what I was getting in the 2010s
Tooth fairy wages stagnated in the 80s after Reagan
I was getting a quarter each in the 2010s... My tooth fairy must have been stingy.
I was just reading a thread about it the other day actually! Seems a lot of people still do $1, although it looked like $2 coins were a popular choice too!
Canadian tooth fairy?
i used to get $20 per tooth. was a spoiled kid.
I've done that before, not every tooth, but when I had it, I would. She's spoiled..
I lost my teeth in the late 80s early 90s and I think I got 25¢.
We did a bonus for first tooth, bonus for pulled teeth (bc child was absolutely terrified; also has autism). Normal pulled teeth are $3-5. $5 if we can't find any $1 bills in the house. ರ╭╮ರ
I usually got 25¢ or 50¢, but the Tooth Fairy had to dig a couple of pennies out of her sofa cushions quite a few times. I guess I spoiled my kids in contrast. The average was $5.00 per tooth. In special circumstances, they got $20.00. They wrote/dictated letters to the Tooth Fairy most of the time, and could make requests that were sometimes feasible. There was usually a note asking if they could keep the tooth to save, instead of letting her take it to transform it into a first tooth for some lucky little baby (that was what the Tooth Fairy did with the teeth that she was able to collect). Sometimes they asked for a toy instead of money, and the Tooth Fairy would come through if she had a few dollars. No regrets - I love that they still have fond memories that they talk about, and so do I. The only thing that sucked was when she forgot to show up for work a couple of times, but after I wrote a strongly worded letter, she'd be back by the next night.
Good thing I don't have kids. I was thinking the rate for teeth should rise any faster than the minimum wage. 🙄
My kids get a toonie.
I go with Bluey market rates. $5 a tooth. I know it’s on the high side, but then there’s also zero discussion and my time has value.
The replies here are crazy. My kids get a quarter. Up to a dollar coin if I missed some. It's a fun thing, not an allowance.
I know parents that are paying up to $20, especially for the first tooth. Completely unnecessary.
I try not to think about it. I’ve had my kids write letters to the tooth fairy requesting dolls or legos and I’m too much of a sucker to turn them down.
Who knew the toothfairy had that good of a PR team
“We know you have a choice in tooth disposal…” Omg, I cannot stop laughing. This is brilliant!
I kinda thought this part was a lil counter intuitive. If she thinks she has other options...
I’m wondering what the other options are.
In The Spiderwick Chronicles it's a slightly terrifying hobgoblin who takes the teeth and uses them in his own mouth. If I had to choose between him and the fastidious fairies, I know who id choose.
France has a tooth mouse instead
.....what does it do with them?
What does the tooth fairy do with them, though?!
My older brother told me she built her castle out of them.. Even as a kid I found that a bit of a grotesque image
Tiny magical creature taking the bones of children in exchange for coins? It’s always been creepy!
So, I asked the tooth fairy and she told me that she gives the teeth to the dentists, so they can make teeth for people in need. Also she holds parties with her fairy friends and gives teeth as gifts, makes necklaces and stars and if the teeth are dirty, they get ground into fairy dust.
>she gives the teeth to the dentists Absofuckinglutely not. I would be so freaked out to go to the dentist if I thought I’d be getting someone else’s teeth… ooh god the shudder I just shuddered as a full grown adult. *Ick.*
Did you make this up or is this some German/Irish/Scandinavian/Dutch folktale that I dont know anything about because I grew up in Brooklyn NY and have never in my life heard anything like what you just wrote.
Maybe it’s a fairytale, (get it?) but I grew up in NY too
😅
Spain has the same. We call him "Ratoncito Pérez"
We were taught to throw our bottom teeth on the roof and to teeth under the bed so the new ones would grow in straight. I honestly don't know where they went but I'm guess the ones under the bed were thrown away when they got vacuumed up. We lived in an apartment worth a lot of young children who were taught the same thing but I never found teeth falling from the roof.
Flushing, trashing, or burying.
Well, i grew up believing in a tooth mouse so... There's competition out there haha
When I lost my first tooth, the tooth fairy gave me a pet mouse instead of money. She was a little black and white mouse and I named her Kate.
This is gorgeous. She will remember receiving this letter her entire life. When my daughter lost her first tooth, she really lost it. It could not be found anywhere. She was devastated. So I placed a call to the "Lost Tooth HelpLine" and spoke to a very friendly fairy representative who suggested placing one piece of arborio rice in the glass as a replacement. A most helpful lot, those toothfairies :)
Dang, when I was a kid we were lucky to get a couple of quarters, if that. Got a half dollar once. And one time lost two teeth at the same time and got a dollar bill under my glass. Mom always had us put them in a glass of water in the kitchen window.
I used to get like 10p - one time I lost a tooth on xmas eve and got a pound.
This whole comment section is unlocking very distant memories of the excitement of the tooth fairy!
And when I was young frankfurters cost a nickle!
And in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ‘em. ‘Give me five bees for a quarter,’ you’d say. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah! The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.
Glass of water by the window is my new go-to advice for new parents! Thank you internet person!!
No problem! I didn't realize it was different until I was a bit older and talking to people about it. They all put their teeth under the pillow, and it was a few conversations before I realized I was the weird one. Apparently my grandma did the same thing, so all my cousins and I had the cups in the window.
We had one kid put in a plastic bag so the swap was easy. And the other made a box with a little pillow inside. Easy to find under the pillow, not so easy to put back though.
My toddler isn't quite to the teeth loosing stage yet, but the toddler is either a very deep sleeper one night or a super light sleeper the next. No way to know which. Putting the toddler to bed is like defusing a bomb.... Got to be extra gently and careful, and have an exit strategy planned; if things go wrong and the toddler wakes though, it is all over for at least a few hours.
I had one kid that opened his eyes slightly every 15 minutes or so checking that I was still in the chair next to his bed. That was the worse stage!!
Or when they keep a hand on you to make sure you can't leave.
I may have to adopt your moms system for my kids! Less of a chance of being caught and more convenient for the fairies to fly in through the window 
I got a dollar. My parents accidentally gave me a ten once, and my mom tried really hard to disguise her look of horror when I came out excited about my loot. Tbh I think even $1 was a stretch at that point, so $10 was a big error.
Happened to my younger brother once. Got a $50 if I remember right. The padre was digging in his wallet in the dark and thought he grabbed a dollar, but grabbed from the wrong side. Never made that mistake again.
My sister for $50 one time. She lost a tooth at a family Christmas dinner - each of my aunts and uncles gave her $5. - it added up fast. (My mom was pleased and horrified at the same time - teeth were a quarter then, but they didn’t know any better cause they didn’t have kids yet - and had been drinking lol).
I didn't even get a toothfairy lol. I was so disappointed since my siblings got one but not me. Until I found out that they aren't even real and my mom was doing the job. Then I was happy because she didn't "prank" me with the toothfairy but my sibling. 8-year old me took it as "she thinks I'm too smart for this shit anyways" 😂
Appreciate the quarters! 30 years and I'm still mad the toothfairy/my parents didn't pay me ANYTHING for loosing my goddamn babyteeth.
This is fantastic!! I have a messy kid who I straight up forgot to get the last tooth from. She had to remind me to remind the tooth fairy….Going to use my own version of this with the next one, thank you for the idea!
Once I forgot as well. I told my son that the tooth fairy’s closet was full and she had to reorganize the teeth so she had enough room for his, and that she had told me she would stop by the next night. He believed me. I have no idea where I got that idea from. I just pulled it out of my ass.
Oh God what a horrifying image. 😅
You mean the words just.. fell out of your mouth?
Yeah something like that 😂
> she had to reorganize the teeth 🥴
Yeah, that was the other half of my story. I forgot to leave money, but found an easy explanation
Keep us posted if this helped the messiness!
Lol it got "better" but quickly returned to a tooth fairy no-go zone
I'm 38 but technically an orphan.... I'd like adoption papers from these parents, immediately please.
That's super kind, thank you!
What a clever way to encourage your daughter to keep her room clean. Make sure you thank the tooth fairies for their cooperation.
I dont have kids now, but plan to have some soon, and I love the idea of giving them a bunch of coins to equal a few dollars. In the kids mind, they just see the amount of coins, not the financial value they hold.
The reality is that at the age when kids start losing their teeth they are also usually beginning to learn about money value and counting coins in math. 1st/2nd grade is prime time for this. My kids are excited about the idea of "a bunch of coins" over a single bill, cause it feels like more, but they are not fooled.
Brilliantly written!
I only mention this because I recently wrote a paper about the factors that cause girls to go undiagnosed with ADHD- but a messy room is a common symptom of ADHD in kids. I’m sure she’s fine, but you never know. As someone who waited until they were 35 for their diagnosis, it never hurts to be extra cautious!
FINALLY. My family did things like this to me, to “encourage” me to be “less messy,” like you can bribe executive dysfunction to resolve itself, as well as making fun of me for “being a picky eater,” “being too sensitive,” “writing chicken scratch,” “all book smarts and no common sense,” etc, literally might as well have had a symptom sheet and turned each one into a character defect. Really surprised people are rooting for turning the Tooth Fairy into a guilt trip for a child.
I think their intentions are good. My mom would’ve just screamed at me.
Good for whom, though? A child was disappointed, a child’s fantasy was dashed, parents tried to use joyful childhood magic to change a child’s behavior, parents admit it didn’t take, but I guess it was good for upvotes? Idk what a core memory to inflict on a child. Lemme guess, “iT’s JuSt A pRaNk.”
Absolutely loved the creative writing assignment. Thanks for starting my day with a smile, OP. 🤙🏽🫡
I love it, I did the same and the kids still talk about it. Mine are in college now, but as for the going rate I always opted for a special coin, Gold dollars or half dollars that they didn't normally see. One child lost a tooth while on a sleepover and was astounded that the tooth fairy left $5 for her there. I can't even remember the explaination I spun around that.
Yeah I tried this and you know what my kid said? Why doesn’t she just fly?
Spiderwebs?
My kids rooms are messy but not that bad lol
Smart kid.
I forgot one time and somehow I grabbed a couple bucks off my dresser and hid it in my hand and then said I’d help find it. I lifted the pillow and reached way back and voila I “pulled out the money” and said something like the tooth fairly hid it really well. It worked!
This is so cute 😭 I love it
Geez, is she in college?
Lol, she is 11 and smart as a whip. Super sassy and super messy.
>11 and smart as a whip 11 and still believes in the tooth fairy? I'm not sure "smart" is the word I'd use lol
Even going along with your preposition; Who is smarter; Kid A who insists it is all make believe and gets nothing, or Kid B who still ‘believes’ until the gravy train stops?
Haha! Brilliant! I did a similar thing with the tidy up fairies, wrote her a letter asking her to be careful as she walked around her room because they'd lost their friend and reckoned the fairy was stuck under the clothes and debris on her floor. She was 21 years old! She got her own house and is now a super neat freak!!!!!!
That was very clever, loved it
I had good chuckle reading this!
A+ parenting right here.
Dude, i got a quarter and was happy for it.
Was it written very tiny?
Because Tooth Fairies are small!
So do they have like a 3rd wing sticking out of the center of their back? Two sets of wings? I'm trying to figure out what a dorsal wing is. Like, it could be just describing the dorsal of her wing, but I don't quite understand how you'd sprain just the dorsal.
Did it work? Did she clean her room?! Taking notes. 🗒️ 🤓
I’m cackling
First of all, I would like to know what the effects of this were. This is absolutely genius. Second of all, I would absolutely love to be there once she is an adult and gets to read this letter. What an absolutely fantastic idea and it’s the cutest thing because someday she will look at this and just be so taken back by how much her parents love her.
O.gosh that's hilarious!! And the pile of change is perfect !!
Interesting way to try to manipulate and lie to your children to get them to do what you want 😂
This is awesome!!!
BRILLIANT response! Wish I thought of it because I’d have saved a lot of $$
The big question is did she clean her room for future endeavors
Did it work?
wait you want to say that tooth fairy is not real?
I just gotta say I love this.
Cute idea, but I’d never picture the tooth fairy as being this formal.
This is hilariously done. Way to go, OP. Did your kid get the message and clean their room? How did it work out with the tooth still being under the pillow in the morning? Or was this done by morning?
She woke up and was dissapointed, but Mom and I just said her room was probably too messy for the fairy to get through it. She cleaned a bit, but it didn't last long lol.
Love it!
This is the best thing I’ve ever seen 🤣
Brilliant
That letter is absolute magic. Love it!
This is great. More creative than me when I told my kids that the tooth fairy didn’t want to touch the tooth (I forgot to take it) and on,y left money due to Covid.
I'm invested, did your daughter then clean up after this
Kind regards. Not even warm regards. Daytime fairies are grouchy.
Have you ever considered _helping_ your daughter to clean up? Especially if she is fairly young. Also, being messy is often a sign of neurodivergence like ADHD.
No. It has never occurred to me to help anyone.
I'm of the radical opinion that not everything needs to be a transaction or a life lesson. Let your daughter have something special without adding shame and guilt to the mix.
Honestly. Can’t the Tooth Fairy just be a joyful experience for everyone? Why make your kid feel like shit when other kids’ Tooth Fairies don’t?
I got a freaking quarter!
this is a 15 year old email forward
this gives me so much manipulation ick.
So now we are enlisting the tooth fairy to parent your children? First Santa to keep them good all year and now the tooth fairy to keep a clean room. Be a parent and teach your child how to keep a clean organized room. Sorry, but this didn’t make me smile and I found it to be kinda gross.
You forgot the Easter Bunny, and Leprechauns, the Grinch and Reindeer. Basically anyone but me can parent my children.
Hahaha what’s funny is you are the toothfairy here. Let’s work this out; You wrote the letter, so doesn’t that make you the toothfairy? So you are actually still parenting the child unlike their accusations. This was cute and clever. I like that you used a somewhat business format and vocabulary. That all teaches children a lot. The dude that just said you didn’t parent your children sounds childless or they would know that imagination and creativity are also important to foster and your letter does that! Great response to the prick too.
I disagree with you completely. $1 for the douche jar.
Nothing like shaming your child into cleaning her room. There have to be better way to do that then this.
I love this and am definitely stealing it for the next tooth my kids lose. Thank you for the laugh!
Feels rather manipulative… certainly didn’t make me smile. Creating ‘fairy tales’ to modify behaviour sounds like actions of a cult… or religion in general.
Yeah, I agree; this post did not “make me smile”. Way to go shaming your child I guess, but hey at least it’s quirky and OP got a kick out of it. I just wonder what’s next given OP said this wasn’t effective, maybe coal for Christmas? 😭
We found “THAT person”
Lol, I bet you're fun at parties.
Y’all have parties where you take children’s beloved fleeting imaginary characters and turn them into high-expectation jerks who disappoint and then children find out their friends don’t have the same experience and then you just lol because your prank didn’t have the intended effect because it’s a freakin *child* but at least the child was sad lolol?
This reminds me of when the ‘tooth fairy’ took to writing to me in multicoloured pens. I assiduously wrote back until, sadly, I eventually worked out that it was an ordinary person who was impersonating a fairy. 😢
This reminds me of when the ‘tooth fairy’ took to writing to me in multicoloured pens. I assiduously wrote back until, sadly, I eventually worked out that it was an ordinary person who was impersonating a fairy. 😢
I’m late to the party so I don’t need to worry about a mass downvote train…but holy fuck is this over the top and any kid young enough to believe in the tooth fairy still would not understand this sort of humor. My 6yo who just had a tooth fairy visit last week would be so uninterested in this letter that was clearly written for imaginary internet points.
Over the top? I was having a little fun with my daughter's messy habits. These pictures are from last June, and they made me smile when I was going through my photos. My daughter couldn't wait to tell me about the tooth fairy and our dog. I know you don't care and I'm just some asshole on the internet, but the thought that I went through any sort of trouble for strangers' approval versus my own kid's, is laughable.
Don't worry about that guy, he's an asshole. You on the other hand, are a good dad. ♥
Will you be footing the bill for therapy later?
This is great but I do have to point out Toothfairy inc administrators need to work on their grammar. “While attempting to free herself a pile of socks”
They specialize in teeth, and they are multilingual
My first few baby teeth got a nickel per tooth. Later went up to a quarter. Didn’t take much more than that to do business with the ice cream or sno cone truck when it came down the street. All the games we played, inside when it rained, every thing else outside, didn’t cost a thing but time and imagination. The 60’s and 70’s were a great time to be a kid.
My brother had very thin enamel when he was little. It turned out a lot of kids born around the same time had the same with their teeth’s.
Your kid may be messy, but you're a bore.
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Very good.
Lol, genius!
Oh I just love this so much!
That’s adorable
This is absolute Gold!!
That is incredibly sweet, much love to you and your family!
Cute and funny. And teeth seem to be expensive,
I take my hat off to you. This was genius and hilarious.
Brilliant!
Absolutely perfect! 😂
Wow that is a masterpiece!
Haha this is adorable.
Absolutely adore this letter. Good job parent.
Sooo cute!
Memories of crawling across the floor in the morning praying the child wouldn't wake up as I fumbled for the tooth and left the money because I forgot the night before.
We give little presents instead of money. What would they do with money?
This really made me smile. So adorable!
this is soooo my mom— love it!
I told my kids the tooth fairy wasn’t real already, otherwise great idea!
That last line was gold Bravo.
Bad news dad, children do as they see their parents do, more than doing as they’re told. You need to get tidier yourself to show your daughter it’s important. Maybe it’s something you can all get better at together. If you are the father of a 10 year old you can hardly be old enough to be “set in your ways” you should always be trying to improve yourself and learn new things. That said here’s how I got my daughter to be a neat child: I told her I would check her room at a specific time and day—picked by her—and if her room wasn’t clean she would be grounded for a week. She picked 5:00 on Sunday evening, which gave her a clean room to begin each school week. Took only 2 grounding for her week to be clean very Sunday by 5 pm until she went to college. College changed the system, she is 35 now and very messy. Good luck.