Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Tooth Fairy

Henry lost a tooth last night. When I got home from a little "book club" meeting with my incredibly zealous fellow fourth grade moms, I was informed that it was there under the pillow. This is the first tooth lost on US soil for either of my boys. George and I had to have some discussion about the going rate for the tooth fairy. After deciding on $1 (this had more to do with what type of bills and coinage we had on hand than with what the local customs were), we had a little chuckle about how lucky we were that the kids don't really understand currency conversion.

In Tokyo, where G3 lost most of his milk teeth, we shelled out a 100 yen per tiny enameled nugget. Back then, that converted to about $1.10. Molars were worth 200 yen. Compared with this morning's payout H is getting slightly ripped off.

In Germany where G lost most of his molars and Henry lost his milk teeth, the going rate was 1 euro for teeth and 2 euro for molars. Easy conversion would be $1.30 and $2.60 respectively. In general this was a good locational move for the boys. As for Henry, he should be getting a little more ticked off that he only got a measly one dollar bill today.


Finally in London, the boys hit the jackpot. The easiest coin to slip under the pillow is the pound coin - so in essence the boys were getting $2 every time they shed crunchers. For those nice big chewers in the back, the payout was a 2 pound coin or $4 U.S. buckaroos. George and I wondered if these payouts would have a financial impact on their college fund accounts. "Yea, we paid for your teeth, sorry about the tuition!" Luckily, we were not in a serious tooth shedding phase for either of the boys. Their education is safe for now. If Henry had any financial acumen, he should be suing us for Loss of Income, and any accompanied payment for pain and suffering - as a result of move he had no control over, he has now lost 50% of the price of a tooth had we stayed in London. Luckily, he doesn't have any financial acumen. I'd hate to have another case in front of the Supreme Court this term.

In the end, H lost his last milk tooth last night - - so we shelled out a dollar. Tonight he lost a molar - so it will be a $2 night. If I was a really good mom, I would have gotten to the bank today to get dollar coins since they are so much cooler. But H didn't care what shape the dollar came in this morning, so I suspect when is comes in pairs tomorrow morning he won't care either. Frankly, I think that the molar tonight was prematurely wrenched from it's socket, wiggled relentlessly all day long with the sure knowledge that there would be a cold hard cash reward for his work and sacrifice. I worry about crack with Henry.

And yes, I think he still does believe in the tooth fairy. I know he also still believes in Santa. Georgie believes in neither, but had a smooth transition to enlightenment and doesn't see it necessary to burst Henry's last thin veil of childhood. He's a great kid that way.

1 comment:

KB said...

For Christmas, you can make it up to them with $2 bills in their stockings. I think you can get those at the bank, too. They are, regretably, a pain to try to cash in though as everyone looks at you funny for trying to us one.