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May 13, 2010
Toothiness
First tooth - Tooth fairy needs more money., originally uploaded by sygnetcreations.
I was stumbling around the always interesting Eric Zorn blog, where I read an article about what is an acceptable amount for the Tooth Fairy to leave. Apparently some parents, nowadays, are leaving $20 under the pillow of a child who loses a tooth. The Zorn post also links to another article, where it stated 25 cents used to be more than enough... in the '80's.
Now, the '80's were my prime tooth-losing years. I think when I lost a tooth, I'd get something on the order of a dollar. When you're a kid, a whole dollar seems like a nice big wad of cash. Especially if you convert it to pennies. You could use it to buy a candy bar! Maybe two candy bars, if you went to the right store.
But 25 cents? In the '80's? Sorry, it just didn't have a lot of wallop. I can think of a few things 25 cents would buy back then - a newspaper, maybe a can of pop, a gum ball, or perhaps a game of skiball. If you wanted to get something truly awesome, like a pack of those green plastic army soldiers, you needed a whole damn dollar.
I mean, to an 8 year old kid, a gum ball is, dare I say, rad. A game of skiball is 45 seconds of joy, but you really need three or four games to get in the groove. A can of pop? Not the best thing to be drinking post-tooth loss. What I'm saying is, the 25 cents didn't get my motor running.
Twenty dollars, however, is a ridiculous prize. That almost encourages kids to lose teeth. It's an entitlement, really. You'd see kids who never do their chores, never obey their parents, and probably never do their homework yet still have rims on their bikes and big-screen TVs, bought with Tooth Fairy money. We cannot have a Tooth Fairy welfare state!
Anyway, here's a good tooth story. I had this tooth that was falling out, hanging on by the barest bit of tissue. I told my mom about it, and she told me to go see my dad. I went and found him working outside in the yard, chopping down brush and digging holes for some reason. I showed him my tooth. Saying nothing, he reached into my mouth with his dirty, soil-infused fingers, yanked out the tooth and put it in his pocket. You'd better believe that traumatic moment was worth more than 25 cents!
entry no. 1454
Posted at May 13, 2010 12:44 PM