When I was losing my baby teeth, way back in those dark ages, it was a dime a tooth that I found when I turned them over. With my own children, if I remember correctly (and it was a little while ago too) it was a dollar a tooth. Although for the big molars I think the tooth fairy left $1.50 or, in the case of my middle daughter, she often wanted a toy or book instead of money—she just was never that into money when she was younger. Now that our tooth fairy days are done, I’m a little out of touch. Recently a somewhat newer parent asked me what the going rate was for the tooth fairy and I had to confess I didn’t really know…
I know that it all depends on all those things that affect other economic realities—region, local economy, family circumstance, size of the tooth, etc. So many considerations can come into play when it gets down to figuring out the pay-out of the tooth fairy. I thought it might be worthwhile to share a little information here in the Parents Blog for those families who are newly embarking on the losing of the baby teeth. How much can a child expect from the tooth fairy these days?
On a related note: does the tooth fairy make deposits under the pillow in your house or somewhere else? In the house I grew up in, we would leave our tooth in a small juice glass of water and the tooth fairy would put the dime in there too. I am quite certain that this ritual was started by my mother who had a bit of a phobia regarding germs and goo. I passed on the same ritual with my kids only the tooth fairy took the tooth and left the money under the glass. Where does the “exchange” take place at your house?