Saturday 3 September 2011

Tooth Fairy (or bug) letters

Although it is a big exciting event when the first tooth falls out, and exciting to put the tooth under the pillow and find a shiny coin* in it's place in the morning, that thrill fades somewhat with repetition.

When my first opportunity to act as a fairy came up, I remembered something my Dad did. I had captured a ladybug (a big achievement for a bug-obsessed 4 year old) and he was feeling badly for it. So one night, he let it free, and put a tiny piece (stamp-sized) of paper in the jar, folded up and adressed to me. It explained (in microscopic handwriting) that the bug had heard her babies calling her,  so even though she had enjoyed her visit, she had to leave. It cushioned the pain of loss very nicely, and made me a happier kid. (And him a happier Dad)

So I cut a little square of stationery, and got out my sharpest pencil. I invented a fairy, and let her write a tiny thank-you note, introducing herself and hoping that she and my daughter would be able to become friends.  It went under the pillow with the dollar (I'm Canadian-we use dollar coins every day).

The next morning, we discovered and read the note together, and then I got to watch her "read" it to her baby brother, her Dad, my Dad (who reminded me happily of the ladybug incident) and several others.

I'll return to this topic one day, explaining how it evolved with her, and totally failed with my son.


*Before the first tooth falls, it it important to determine what the local going rate is for tooth fairy payments.  Our neighbour once gave a $5 payment for a tooth and became very unpopular for a little while with the other fairies who did not like the 500% inflation that represented.

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