As I mentioned a couple days ago, Annabel lost her first tooth on Sunday… and swallowed it in the process. She was VERY distressed by this until we promised her the Tooth Fairy would still come if she wrote a letter explaining what happened. Once she’d fallen asleep with her letter tucked under her pillow, it was time for me to play “Tooth Fairy” for the first time.
The first thing I did was put together a letter for her. I wanted to encourage Annabel’s robust imagination, so I tried to make the Tooth Fairy’s letterhead as official as possible, with fancy font and a “seal.”
Dear Annabel,
Congratulations on losing your first tooth! This is quite the milestone for a young girl. I’m always so excited to meet a new friend.
In honor of your first lost tooth, I’ve given you a special box to leave your future lost teeth in. I hope you like it – I picked it especially for you. I’ve also left you some extra money since this is your first lost tooth.
Thank you for writing to me about swallowing your tooth! Don’t worry about it – I see that you have several more loose teeth, so I look forward to collecting those from you in the future! By the way, I loved your drawings. You are very good at illustrating teeth!
Keep brushing and flossing – I only pay for the very best baby teeth!
I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Love, The Tooth Fairy
When her tooth first became loose, I bought her this little tooth box with the intention of having her put her first tooth in it (so we wouldn’t have to try to find a tooth under her pillow) , but I instead made it a gift from the Tooth Fairy for future lost teeth.
I carefully laid everything on her bedside table and snuck out of her room.
She woke up around 2am and hollered that her letter was missing from under her pillow. We ran in there just in time to see her sit up and notice her gifts from the tooth fairy. We quickly went over the letter, then tucked her back in. In the morning, she was a little more cogent and a lot more excited about what the tooth fairy had left, even pointing at the seal on the letter and saying, “My friends told me about this!” Oh…good thing I included that!
All things considered, all went well in my first performance as the tooth fairy. Hopefully next time, I’ll have an actual tooth to collect!
samatwitch says:
Well done, Heather!
Tracy says:
The best thing I ever did with my 2 was to have them put the teeth in little snack sized ziplock bags. Oh so easy to slip the tooth out from under the pillow and easy to return another ziplock bag with the dollar – or in my sons case a gold dollar coin.
Also have a plan for when the tooth fairy misses a night (or two) I don’t remember how many she missed with my son but with my daughter there was quite a few. With her she lost them early and fast though, I think we were all done by the time she was 8.
Kim Q says:
Oh, you’ve set the bar for yourself now! I also made the mistake of including a letter with the first tooth lost, and then for the next infinity teeth lost, I also had to include letters. Boo! That loses it luster after the first time! And can get you into trouble too if you don’t remember exactly what you wrote the last time. (I guess you get lucky in that regard that you have a blog you can refer back to. Ha!)
Glenda says:
Love the letter idea. I had a fairy tooth pillow for my kids. Much easier to find
Jessica says:
What a cute idea! You’re so creative and thoughtful!!
Lauren says:
I must ask – where did you purchase that box? I have a 7 year old with all his baby teeth (and none loose). I would love to be prepared with something similar for when he finally loses one.
Heather says:
I got it on Amazon, here is the link. They sell them in pink and blue! I should order one for James so I have a matching one in a few years.
Jennifer says:
I wrote a letter for each of my children’s first lost teeth. Like another poster, I have them put their teeth in Ziploc bags (more so that I can locate them under their pillows quickly, than anything else!). What I made sure not to do, for my sanity, was not to get overly excited about it. There are eleventy billion ways to lose your mind over tooth fairyness on Pintrest and I had to just shut that down right away.
We had a tooth get lost in the ocean and a 6 year old with terror that the tooth fairy would not come. That was the only other time that I wrote a letter. For that one, the tooth fairy reassured my daughter that one of her helpers found the tooth on the back of a dolphin (where do I come up with this stuff???) and turned it in. My daughter loved this and her day was made.
I know there are a lot of people out there who don’t like the idea of the tooth fairy or Santa Claus. Honestly, there isn’t enough magic in the world and I have two kiddos who need all the magic they can get.
Cheryl says:
As a kid our teeth went into a plastic cup filled with water on the kitchen window sill (mom said so the tooth fairy could spot it while flying around). In the morning the tooth would be gone but there would be coins in the water. I have continued that with my son, makes it so much easier than trying to find it under his pillow (especially as he is a restless sleeper!)
Michell says:
Heather, you are the greatest! For my daughter, I had the cutest Tooth Fairy pillow that I purchased at a craft fair. I never had to write any notes, but I did make the mistake of spreading “fairy dust”, ie, glitter, around her bed. The half-life of glitter is very long. Like, maybe 20 years. (We did a lot of crafting around here, I never know where I will find glitter.)
RzDrms says:
Glitter truly is “the herpes of the craft world.” You never know when it’ll show up.
Ciji says:
I must know what don’t that ‘from the desk of’ is written in. I’m a fontaholic. I love that little tooth box. I must remember to get my son one. He’s only three months so I have plenty of time to worry about that.
Heather says:
I totally understand – I love fonts! That one is called “Satisfaction.”
Ciji says:
Thanks! I just noticed my auto-correct of font to don’t oops!
Emily says:
Have you thought about getting Annie and James a Fairy Door? They are the most wonderful magical thing and our kids adore them. The company has thought of everything and the kids love writing and getting notes from their very own fairy. I can just see Annie’s wonderful imagination really getting into it. Check out their website… http://theirishfairydoorcompany.com/us/
Melissa says:
Love the little box! The tooth fairy is the best… and when Mom and Dad won’t buy you something you want you just pull out a few to make some cash! HA! Not like I ever did that as a kid or anything.
Jeanie says:
So very clever of you, and that little tooth box is the cutest thing ever!
Annalien says:
In South Africa, or maybe just in our Afrikaans culture, we have a tooth mouse that comes and not a tooth fairy. And the teeth are put in a shoe next to the bed – makes it a bit easier to take out ;-).
Carrie says:
Love the little tooth box. We have one also for my 7 year old. She’s only lost 2 teeth but we’ve yet to use the box. Her first tooth fell out in the pool at summer camp, and her 2nd in the pool while in Disney World. What are the odds?! Both times she wrote the tooth fairy a note saying her tooth “drowned”. Hoping to be able to use the box with her next loose tooth.
Vanessa says:
Omg i just love this!! Tucking this idea for future kids!
Jennifer says:
I know I’m late to the party but my daughter is TOTALLY into the Tooth Fairy.
She particularly liked the “receipt” the tooth fairy left her.
http://i66.tinypic.com/106y5h2.jpg