Tooth Fairy Tale
August 4, 2011 Dear parents of children who are visited by the Tooth Fairy. The following story is a faithful account of what happened to my 8 year old this weekend.
She woke up Sunday morning and checked her Tooth Fairy pillow for the money she was expecting for the tooth she'd lost the night before. She was a little disappointed to discover that the Tooth Fairy hadn't come. But the Tooth Fairy has forgotten before and always shows up the next night.
Well, this time, my daughter returned to her room after watching some Sunday morning tv and discovered the Tooth Fairy had come while she was downstairs! Wow! We figure she was just running late.
But as my daughter was inspecting her payment, she suddenly announced that it WASN'T the Tooth Fairy who'd left the money. The money was mine ...
You see, the Tooth Fairy left 8 quarters ($2). One quarter was very special. The Canadian Mint often produces limited edition coins and this one happened to be for Rememberance Day (I know November 11th is a special day in many countries) and it has a very distinct red poppy on one side of the coin.
Now it just so happens that my daughter had recently drawn faint yellow dots on this very coin and then returned it to the little spare change dish I keep near by. She showed me the dots.
You can imagine my surprise!
The only thing we can figure is that the Tooth Fairy had run out of money for the night and had to borrow some from me.
My daughter and I would like to know if this has ever happened to you. She has read this story to verify it's accuracy and is looking forward to reading comments that will help us solve this mystery.
Many thanks for your input!
Parenthood 
Reader Comments (24)
WOW !! this happened to son also! I told him I thought the Tooth Fairy must have been short of money by the time she got to our house, maybe there were more pick ups than she thought. I guess the next time she came by our house she must have left what she borrowed because I found a quarter on my dresser a couple of days later.
Just discovered your wonderful blog and have been having so much fun reading your past posts. So nice to meet you!
Okay, first of all, little girls should NOT deface money...I think it's illegal or something. In the USA, secret service will knock on your door. You don't want that. ;0
Secondly, poor little tooth fairy was tired and running late...really late. Her wings were exhausted because she flew all over Canada that night....lots of lost teeth. It is hard for the tooth fairy to plan so many visits and have JUST enough money to make her rounds.
THere is a special rule for tooth fairies. If they are running short on money, they are allowed to 'borrow' money from mom and dad. The tooth fairy will pay them back the next time she visits your house.
I hope that settles everything. Tooth Fairies are way cool so we just have to 'trust' them. ;0
I just found you blog as I hoped from Pam Kitty's list of people doing cute farmer's wife blocks which I am contemplating myself. I'm a little late I know, but all of you other guys are inspiring me, so I'll let you get the kinks out while I finish up some other projects and work in my garden. I am glad you started blogging and hope you continue because your blog is so fun to read! and it is fresh and inspiring.
I'll be back!
Ferne
We had a similar situation at our home once, and you know, I always wondered what happened to my change....now I know. My daughter lost a tooth before bed and didn't tell me, so I was very surprised when she came downstairs with money in her "tooth pillow". This happened years ago and I think I remember that some money did magically appear on my dresser a few weeks later
THAT HAPPENED TO YOU TOO??? Wow I thought it was just us.
I can confirm that if the tooth fairy discovers she doesn't have enough money she is allowed to borrow from an adult in the house (in exceptional circumstances she may borrow from more than one adult but this is rare and needs permission from the queen of fairies). Fairy rules state that the money must be returned the next time the tooth fairy is in the area, left in clear view so the adult knows it has been returned and the fairy must not be discovered leaving the coin...
For more information on the fairies I can recommend 'The Wychwood Fairies' by Faye Durston.
We like to imagine our tooth fairy as a frazzled forgetful little fairy with a crooked tiara (or whatever fairies wear on their heads) and mismatched socks. She is soooo forgetful we more likely than not have to wait through two nights to receive the tooth money. One time she even dropped the tooth on the floor on lost it! She borrows money from everyone's wallets and many times doesn't come until we are all eating breakfast. But, she always comes through in the end and we have many exciting stories to tell about our scatterbrained fairy.
Well my tooth fairy story is slightly different. When my son lost his first tooth (he's 26 now) he swallowed it while eating his lunch at school. He was very upset when he came home as he didn't think the tooth fairy would understand. So we sat down and wrote the tooth fairy a note explaining the whole situation and put it under his pillow that night at bedtime. Guess what, she fully understood and left him his money and took the note away (to probably file away or something).
So the tooth fairy business isn't always straight forward, I expect she had a rather more busy evening that she anticipated and wasn't carrying enough cash! I'm sure she'll pay you back!!! ;)
Vivienne x
Wow! I thought this only happened to us! When my sister and I were kids (about 9 and 10 years old) my sister swore that the tooth fairy borrowed the special dime from my Mom's little saucer in the kitchen and gave it to her. We were scratching our heads trying to figure out why she did that and my aunt (who knows absolutely EVERYTHING in the world) told us that she sometimes does run short at the end of a late night, but that she ALWAYS replaces the borrowed coin the very next night. Sure enough - there was an extra dime in Mom's saucer that next morning!!! We always thought our Tooth Fairy was pretty special after that and just loved that she was so honest!!
Your story helped me solve OUR Tooth Fairy mystery! This same thing happened to my little daughter and me! I just couldn't figure out why my change jar looked a wee bit emptied, and then filled up again a couple of days later. With so many children losing teeth everyday, no wonder she has to borrow a little change every now and again! :)
She was obviously running very late if she had to do her teeth pick-up when your daughter was awake and downstairs! Imagine her dismay when she discovered that she was not only running very late, but had run out of quarters too! Poor little fairy must have been run off her feet! I have no doubt she will repay that quarter...they always do, you know :)
I was introduced to your blog today. I loved your pictures; your color choices were fantastic. I, too, am a self-taught quilter. I enjoy the packaged fabric instead of off the bolt because I know the fabric will blend. Keep on making and you will achieve perfection. I always rationalized - these quilts are to look at; add color to a room and/or keep someone warm - not for a show or the quilt police. Quilting is a personal satisfaction.
Just hopped here from PamKittyMorning. I am a grandma and so enjoyed reading about that darn tooth fairy and the questions you had for "her". We used to have the same problems many, many years ago when my own kids were little.
You do such beautiful machine quilting. Would you please tell me what kind of sewing machine you use?
Well it happened at my house; lucky for me it was -40 degrees outside so we just assumed that it was too cold for the poor tooth fairy to show up, after that my eldest son noticed that tooth fairy forgot a few times so just in case that the toot fairy forgot again he started to put some coins too, luckily for my youngest, he most times after that got double whammies. What we do for our kids! and young siblings. Ruth K.
I've just visited your blog for the first time, on the advice of Sister's Choice. It's enchanting. I have become a follower. In my many years of experience with the Tooth Fairy, (two daughters and now two little granddaughters), I've come to the conclusion that she likes to keep everyone guessing. By the way, I LOVE the tooth fairy pillow. Did you make it and is there a pattern?
Hi in Australia, we have similar things happen. I guess being such a large country times do happen that she gets to the last house of the night and just hasn't got enough coins. I remember marking a special coin in my mums purse when I was little that I found in with my tooth fairy money the next day. But in mum's purse I remember there was some fairy glitter, did you find any glitter? It's hard to find. And now that I am a mum I know that a few years ago, when my daughter lost her tooth I became short of a few coins. But the funny thing was I didn't have any glitter in my purse like my mum did,but a couple of days later I found the missing coins near my purse with glitter on them. All very mysterious. But all monies and teeth accounted for. Good luck solving your mystery.
Oh yes. I think this happens quite often. It happened to my daughter and also her son. The tooth fairy is just so so very busy these days. It's easy to make an error in your calculations and not bring enough money along with you. Smart parent just happen to have a little something available to be borrowed.
By the time my third son was losing teeth, the Tooth Fairy was getting pretty old and forgetful. He came to me one day after the second night the Tooth Fairy had failed to leave him money and said, "I think the Tooth Fairy left my money in your wallet." True story, I swear to God.
The tooth fairy is often forgetful at our house, too. Once she forgot for two whole nights in a row, and then she left a note at the backdoor for me to pass along to my daughter along with the money. But she's very kindhearted. When one of our children literally LOST his very first tooth, she accepted a paper facsimile instead of the real tooth. I thought that was a class act.
I do believe that she ends up without the correct change for all the teeth that have been lost because she doesn't always get accurate info on what kind/size of tooth was lost. She may just be informed that a tooth was lost. I think some larger ones require MORE change to be left. Someone else might have had a molar fall out and she only brought enough for a regular tooth so she had to borrow when she got to yours – but like everyone said, she’s always good about returning it. I’m going to let my boys know this now, before we loose any teeth, just so that they are prepared. :-) I'm so glad you posted your story....and for all the answers shared.
A tooth fairy running out of money! LOL. Now that's funny! My daughter is a tooth fairy-lover too. I used to tell my kids stories about how tooth fairies help children, and they enjoyed it.
Timothy Eastwood