The Tooth Fairy Cuts Costs

[Kay in Cal]

"The average pillow payout is now $1.88, down from $2.09 last year, according to a recent survey by DeCare Dental, a Minnesota-based benefits management company."

 

I've been giving $5 per tooth, but I only have 2 kids. What do you pay out, or does the tooth fairy not make visits to your home?

[Mommy22alyns]

We're miserly here - the Tooth Fairy has brought golden dollars for each of Becca's lost teeth. To her, it's like a real piece of gold!

 

Oh BTW Kay, I love this:

 

"Quot libros, quam breve tempus."

 

 

And I have to admit to being proud that I translated it without having to look anything up!

[sixpence1978]

I guess we are cheap here. We give $1.25 per tooth. That's enough to save or go pick out something from the dollar store and cover the tax.

[Plucky]

We've only ever given $1 for a tooth. Plus, our tooth fairy is very forgetful.

[abbeyej]

Yikes! Apparently I'm a regular Scrooge! :) I give $1 for the first tooth and $.25 after that!!! ;)

[secular_mom]

A couple of times it has been a $5 bill, because that's the only paper money we had. I don't like to give the children coins, as we've had some issues with them being swallowed in the past. :)

All of our children know that the tooth fairy is not real, and that we are just 'playing' the tooth fairy game. Sometimes DS has had to remind me to have the tooth fairy visit two nights after he lost his tooth, LOL.

Some times he has to wait till we have some cash, because we usually use our check cards to make purchases.

[Sandy in Indy]

Funny you should bring it up. We're not big fans of the tooth fairy, easter bunny or santa claus, but we have done the tooth fairy thing with the last one. When ds (8) lost his last tooth, he informed me that he didn't believe in the tooth fairy anymore. I asked him where the money came from. He said he didn't know, but it wasn't the tooth fairy. So, I convinced him to put the tooth under his pillow anyway and we'd see. The tooth fairly promptly forgot to come! So I made up a story about soooo many teeth being lost in the Indy area that night and the tooth fairy just couldn't get to them all. We tried again the next night. After hauling in his dollar, he informed me that he still didn't believe in the tooth fairy. We got several days of fun and laughter out of it all.

[jenn&charles]

We give out what we call fairy dimes (a mercury dime) for each tooth lost. This was actually my husband's idea and it's been pretty special and neat for the kids to get them. I think we bought them for about a buck each.

 

[nukeswife]

Well I guess I'm the a HUGE Scrooge then. We give .50 a tooth, this is because we use .50 pieces which the kids think are great since they aren't very common.

[joannqn]

We do $3 per tooth...but it is only that high because we haven't been giving allowances.

[Deeke]

We give $2 and a pack of sugarless gum.

[elegantlion]

We did 5.00 per tooth. With only one we weren't worried about setting an unrealistic precedent. He doesn't get paid anymore, but he derives great joy pulling his own teeth. Loose teeth annoy him.

[momtolgd]

The tooth fairy leaves $5 for the first tooth, and $1 for every tooth after that.

[Emmy]

My children don't believe in the tooth fairy but we give them $5 for their first tooth and $1 for each tooth after that.

[danybug]

The tooth fairy visits here! But we have had some tooth incidents, that have made her payout under extenuating circumstances. The first two teeth were ones that had to be extracted, so we felt horrible for him so we left $50. Then, the next one my husband kicked a soccer ball while my son was playing goalie and it knocked a front tooth out. So again, we were guilt ridden so we left $25.

 

So, needless to say we set ourselves up for high expectations. We have now been giving $10. Luckily his sister is so young she will know nothing about it and we can start fresh with cheaper tooth fairy visits ;)

[ereks mom]

:D

[TrixieB]

My kids asked to keep their teeth than surrender them to the tooth fairy. They each have a little cardboard box full of teeth, and no tooth fairy money.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I voted $1 but I could also have voted Other b/c it is a special dollar. We give a special golden dollar (read: john adams, sacagawea, et c.). It's very impressive . . . well it was really impressive when she actually believed in the tooth fairy. Now that she's older and realizes that a dollar is a dollar, well . . . she's still thrilled.

 

I heard someone once say she had to go cash a check so the tooth fairy would have some money tonight. I asked how much and she said $10. Wow!

 

We almost arbitrarily chose the dollar. We were'nt thinking about dollar value, we were think of something that would be neat. We thought of a $2 bill but considered that there would come times when a tooth might come out at a time when we couldn't easily get to the bank -- just before bed time, for example. We also thought of a penny with her birth year and considered getting a bunch and polishing them to a pretty shine but while we kept thinking about it, a tooth came out and there we were w/ no shiny pennies. We also thought about not giving anything . . . for about two seconds.

[Matryoshka]

We give one 50 cent piece per tooth, although my oldest has negotiated a raise to $1 if it's a molar. :D We try to get a Sacagawea dollar coin so it's still a special coin.

 

We got a funny book out of the library once that chronicled the tooth-losing traditions of various cultures around the world. Apparently a fairly common one in many cultures is to throw your tooth on the roof (that's actually the name of the book - Throw Your Tooth on the Roof). Odd. But it sure would save the tooth fairy some money! ;)

Edited April 14, 2009 by matroyshka

[Laura Corin]

The tooth fairy brings one pound, which is currently about USD 1.49 (down from nearly two dollars last year).

 

Laura

[myfunnybunch]

I voted fifty cents, the amount the tooth fairy brings for most teeth.

 

First tooth gets a gold dollar. And the Christmas Eve tooth got fifty cents from the tooth fairy and a dollar from Santa.

 

Cat

[Veritaserum]

The Tooth Fairy visited last week and left a book. :tongue_smilie: Our kids know about the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus, so it's just for fun.

[Jenny in Florida]

The tooth fairy who visits our house doesn't bring money (or, at least, not much). She brings small toys or goodies: a magazine, a puzzle book, a deck of cards, etc. The items cost more than the average tooth fairy amount mentioned in the article, but we've always preferred "stuff" over cash.

[Carrie12345]

We do $1. My kids don't have a firm grasp on this money thing yet. I mean, they can count it and know how it *works*, but they don't have the usage down pat. They usually wind up playing store with it!

 

Except the 10yo. He hordes it.

[Peggy in Va]

Gee, I guess I'm just an "old school" Scrooge. I voted other, molars get $1.50 and regular old teeth get 25 maybe 50 cents at the most. Of course that's assuming they follow the "rules".

 

Middle ds decided once he was going to test the tooth fairy and see if she would bring him his money if he didn't put his tooth under his pillow. I told him I doubted it and didn't think she would think to look on top of the microwave for his tooth. You know, there are just certain rules you have to follow. Sure enough, he didn't follow the rules and she didn't bring him his money.

 

Long story short, that tooth sat on the kitchen window for about three months. One day he saw it and asked if I thought it was too late for him to put it under his pillow, would she still bring him money. Strangest thing happened, he followed the rules, put it under his pillow, and she left the money. Without interest of course.

 

Gosh, I can be cruel to my kids at times. But he never questions rules anymore.:)

[Tree House Academy]

We vary. My little fella has just started losing teeth and the first tooth was $2. From now on, we are going to be doing something like a "gold" dollar coin. :)

[sassenach]

We give golden dollars. 1 per tooth.

[Nakia]

We use this.

[3lilreds in NC]

I don't have time to read all the responses, but we do $1 - dh went to the bank and got a roll of "Golden Dollars." They are Sacagawea dollars, I think. I read about it on a Babycenter board somewhere. Unfortunately, my kids know they're *only* dollars. The good news for them is that the tooth fairy is often forgetful, and when she forgets to come in a timely fashion, she leaves a lot more cash - like 5 golden dollars. Speaking of which, I should probably put in a call and see if she would try to come tonight since both girls have been waiting on her for a couple of months now. :D

[elise1mds]

We're miserly here - the Tooth Fairy has brought golden dollars for each of Becca's lost teeth. To her, it's like a real piece of gold!

 

That is precisely what the tooth fairy brings my son as well, and for that precise reason! He's working hard on losing #3 at the moment... I better go check my 'treasure box' to make sure the tooth fairy can pay up. :D

[Melissa in FL]

Mine wasn't on there. We give $5 for the first tooth. $3 for the rest, on dollar of the 3 is a gold one.

Melissa

[Haiku]

Five dollars for the first tooth, one dollar thereafter.

 

Tara

[HRAAB]

My dh went to the bank and got some of those Sacajawea dollars to give to the girls. It's still just a dollar, but that gold coin seems like more them.

 

Janet

[Aggie]

We never did the actual tooth fairy, but we give the dc a quarter when one falls out.

[Peela]

In Australia we have beautiful gold coloured $1 and $2 coins, which are both perfect for tooth fairies. They are also great for making donations when you go places. "Gold coin donation" is a common sign around the place.

[littlebug42]

We give a half-dollar coin for each tooth.

[Starr]

The fairy brings one dollar for most teeth at our house. First teeth and last teeth might rate a little more. The best deal ds received was from the fairy in the UK. Those pounds really added up a few years ago. :)

[Joyful]

I voted "other" b/c my oldest ds is 7 1/2 and still has all of his baby teeth!:001_huh:

[Heather in Neverland]

We give $5 per tooth. Yeah, I'm a sucker. :tongue_smilie:

[Mom2boys]

We only give a dollar per tooth. I love the gold dollar coin idea! I never thought of that. I'll have to get a roll for the rest of their teeth. Both my sons still have lots of baby teeth left.

[LND1218]

We've only ever given $1 for a tooth. Plus, our tooth fairy is very forgetful.

 

Huh - I guess you are on the same tooth fairy route as our home.

 

Our tooth fairy sometimes hides the money in usual places - like on Easter when dd lost a tooth - they Tooth Bunny hid it in a egg for her.

 

I am pretty sure the unusual hiding spots come from the tooth fairy forgetting until after the pillow has been checked!

[TN Mama]

The tooth fairy leaves $5 for the first tooth, and $1 for every tooth after that.

 

Ditto. Our tooth fairy also leaves a little note.

[SquirrellyMama]

We've got a weird relationship with the Tooth Fairy. I put money under their pillows but I also tell them the TF isn't real. It's always fun for them to find money (25 cents - $1) My oldest is the only one to have lost teeth yet and she's the one who insists on believing eventhough she knows the truth. That's fine.

 

 

One day she asked me why the TF only comes at night. She pondered it for a moment and said, "I bet she's fat and ugly". :glare: Gee thanks, honey. I think my dd is passive agressive.

 

My mom sent her $20 bucks for two lost teeth. I called her up and said I was demanding back payment of teeth with interest. No fair, I only got 25 cents! I'm still waiting for all that money.

[Jenny in Florida]

We've got a weird relationship with the Tooth Fairy. I put money under their pillows but I also tell them the TF isn't real.

 

Us, too. Well, we don't give money, and we don't put anything under the pillow. My kids each have/had a special place in their rooms to put lost teeth, and the tooth fairy would put the resulting goodies there.

 

But we've never done Santa, the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny as "real." My kids are well aware that it's us. We just pretend together.

 

When my daughter was younger, she used to leave notes for the tooth fairy asking questions about her and her life. And the tooth fairy wrote back. We kept that up for a couple of years.

[Jumping In Puddles]

Well I guess I'm the a HUGE Scrooge then. We give .50 a tooth, this is because we use .50 pieces which the kids think are great since they aren't very common.

 

My son got half dollars too for his first tooth out and he thought they were cool because they are so big.

 

For his second tooth, he got 5 golden dollars which he also thought was cool (because the dentist basically ripped the tooth from his mouth and I felt guilty)

[mazakaal]

I had to vote 'other'. My kids get 1 GBP per tooth which has about the buying power here that $1 has over there. The actual value of 1 GBP varies from $1.50 - $2 depending on the exchange rate. When we were in the US last year, one ds lost a couple of teeth and got $2 per tooth. When we were in South Africa a couple of years ago, they got the rand equivalent of 1 GBP.

[SquirrellyMama]

But we've never done Santa, the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny as "real." My kids are well aware that it's us. We just pretend together

 

 

That's what we do too with all of those. They know who it is but it's fun to pretend with them.

[Tap]

$2 is the rule, buy we pay $5 for the first one.