Tooth Fairy Confidential

Be warned if you have a little one on your lap while reading this, I will be revealing a few secrets about you-know-who.

The time has finally come when my three children have lost all of their baby teeth. Although my son has known the secret of the tooth fairy for some time, my girls were only recently ready to acknowledge the truth as well. So yesterday, I pulled the big secret shoe box out of my closet and we dug in. It was painfully obvious that Jeff and I were sleepwalking when tucking into the box little teeth wrapped in paper labeled with names and dates on them. Chicken scratch, barely legible at times. The bottom of the box rattled with the loose, mixed and unlabeled teeth of all 3 kids, apparently from those times that we were just too darn tired from getting up in the night to sneak under pillows for the tooth/dollar exchange.
Click on any image to enlarge.My daughter, Jamie, began writing letters with questions to the tooth fairy several years ago. And the tooth fairy wrote back. Jamie brought me all the letters today to share. Each folded as tiny as paper can be folded. I remember how my hand would cramp from writing so small. Just reading them again reminds me how fast our children grow, such innocence to want to be best friends with the tooth fairy.

In my shoe box of teeth there was a tiny bag handmade by Jamie as a gift to the tooth fairy, complete with dental floss handles. Too sweet. Of course, the tooth fairy loved it as documented in her letter. We got the biggest laugh reading letters from Bennett. Most every note was asking for more money. Our favorite was the one he wrote soon after our Mexico vacation when he had returned with some coins as souvenirs. He taped a coin along side his tooth to the note. I guess he figured the tooth fairy could use some help.Dear Tooth Fairy,
Can we start getting $5 or $10 for a tooth instead of $1?
From Bennett
P.S. Here is money for Mexican kids