Things I've Learned Living in the O.C. #3- The Tooth Fairy

I'm sure I can stir up the big controversy whether parents should do the Tooth Fairy thing or not with this post, but that's an individual family thing. We happen to be visited by the Tooth Fairy at our house.
Little did I know how the cost of living in the O.C. affects the value of baby teeth.
Recently our little girlie lost one of her baby teeth. The night it fell out we had guests over. As they were leaving late that night, she announced, "My tooth fell out!!!"
She excitedly placed it in a baggie and wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy:

Dear Tooth Fairy

I Love You

and

God Loves You Too!

She placed the note and the baggie under her pillow and went to sleep.

DH and I were so exhausted we headed off to bed and also went to sleep.

The next morning as I was making my coffee our little princess glumly walked down the stairs, her little face was hanging on the step below her. I immediately went to her, hugged her and asked what was wrong. With big teary eyes she told me the Tooth Fairy hadn't come, and it was probably her note that blocked the tooth so she was missed.

My heart began to break for her. Such a sad face! I tried to reassure her that all was fine and that she would be taken care of. I went to my purse and grabbed all the change from my wallet. Kneeling down before my girlie, I offered her the coins from my purse.

She looked at me and with a quiet response said, "Mom, I don't want your money."

Let me say, at this point I'm feeling like the BIGGEST loser of the Universe. I can hear the mockers saying, "You shouldn't do the Tooth Fairy thing!!" I just couldn't believe we slept through the night without a thought of her little tooth and the precious, heartfelt, little note.

The Tooth Fairy was going to pay BIG for this bungle!

So that afternoon the Tooth Fairy appeared and left a whopping $5.00! That's the most ever paid at this house for a baby tooth.

When the discovery was made, there was celebration and amazement from our girlie and the boys. $5.00!!

I was feeling like the Tooth Fairy had made good on her mistake and all was good...or so I thought.

A couple days later, while playing with a friend they began comparing missing teeth. Our girlie proudly displayed her gap where her $5.00 baby tooth once was. She boasted of the $5.00 gift. Then her little friend replied, "$5.00??? I get $20.00 for mine!!"

TWENTY BUCKS!!! What??? For a baby tooth??? Let me figure that out...If kids lose 20 teeth, that's $400 per kid. That's $1200 for our family!! That's a big chunk of change.

So, there's one more thing I've learned living in the O.C. The Tooth Fairy pays according to the cost of living.

If you're from the PNW you're happy to receive fifty cents to a dollar. If you're from the O.C. you're probably guaranteed double digit dollars. Our poor kids...they'll continue to receive the pittance received in the PNW.