• I can’t believe I’m having to think about this already, but my daughter has lost her first tooth. I won’t get sentimental about it, but it was sooner than I was expecting. She is a few weeks shy of her fifth birthday. We took her to the dentists today just to get a cleaning and in addition to the tooth that was hanging on by a thread she has three more that are on their way out too. Why is this important? Because right now, tonight, I have to decide the rules of the Tooth Fairy. Our whole toothy traditions are put in place tonight. I don’t recall exactly what my parents did for me and my brothers but I remember being excited that a tooth fairy had visited me and getting a small amount of money. Maybe a quarter? My biggest issue with that, is that you can’t buy anything but candy with a quarter, and frankly that seems a touch counter intuitive if you ask me.

    Family traditions are important to kids

    I have heard of people who give their kids $10 or $20 bucks, but that is insane! Even five dollars seems excessive for a tooth. Maybe instead of money the Tooth Fairy can leave little trinkets, or dollar store toys? Even better maybe she can leave books! Perhaps something slightly bigger for the first tooth. I mean, you only lose your first tooth once, right? Then smaller goods for each subsequent tooth? Whatever we decide will be what the other two kids get too, so I don’t want to decide simply on her preferences. So we decided to leave a little note under her pillow something that says, “Tooth Fairy Was Here” along with a certificate of congratulations. My husband, of course, had to sneak a dollar in there as well as his contribution. Family traditions are important to kids. It helps them feel secure, gives them something to look forward to, and lets them know that others are thinking of them . With any luck they will remember it forever.