Red Wellies # 8: 👶🏼 Five Bucks and a Fanta - The Alternative Tooth Fairy 👶🏼
The history or tradition of the mythical tooth fairy can be traced back to 13th century northern Europe, where the child was paid for losing a tooth.
In England during the middle ages, children burnt their baby teeth to prevent hardship in the afterlife. Vikings paid children for their baby teeth to hang around their necks to bring them luck in battle. And in medieval Europe, the teeth were burnt to prevent them falling into a witches’ hands and her then gaining control of you.
Every family has their own way of acknowledging the loss of child’s baby tooth. Whether it’s a special tooth pillow or personalized letter from the tooth fairy and we’re no exception.
When the children were little, I created tiny little letters from their personal tooth fairy and left them along with payment for the tooth. For the loss of the first one they each received a $2 bill. Then sometime during kindergarten when classmates were putting their teeth into glasses of water and then the water would magically change color overnight, then we started to do that too.
Pretty soon the illusion of the tooth fairy and childhood innocence was getting to be too much!
The panic - when you don’t have change and suddenly the tooth is worth $10.
The panic - of being caught digging under your child’s head to retrieve the tooth.
The panic - when you fall asleep and the tooth fairy didn’t make it that night...
Panic, panic, panic… oh the pressure, all for a little tooth.
Enter five bucks and a Fanta…
We were staying at a friend’s beach house in New Smyrna, FL and our youngest son was having trouble with one of his front teeth. It was loose, but not quite ready to come out, but was causing pain when eating.
Daddy in all his wisdom 😉 suggested that if he pulled it out, he’d get Five Bucks and a Fanta, however for that he’d have to give up the tooth to us and not the tooth fairy.
Well $5, is a good price for a tooth, when the average is $3.70 and it wasn’t long before he’d worked it loose and pulled it out and proudly showed us his bloody grin. And yes, he got $5 and a Fanta.
A couple of days later, we’d run to the store to get some provisions for breakfast when we got this text from our eldest daughter… yes, as if by a miracle, his other tooth had come out and we didn’t even know it was loose. Another $5 and a Fanta. $10 not bad for a couple of days "work".
Ever since then, no more “panic” and it’s so much easier! Five bucks and a Fanta all the way!
The downside is that sometimes the boys enlist the help of their other sister to remove a loose tooth to get the coveted “Five Bucks and a Fanta”.
This video is not for the faint of heart!
Did you hear the “click” as the tooth was removed… So gross!
Anyway, that’s how the tooth fairy is now “Five Bucks and a Fanta”.
Original content by @redwellies
Historical Source: Wikipedia
$5 and a Fanta...lol Its going to get expensive. Your husband should have done better at math
@matthewwarn... It's not too bad, babies only have 20 teeth to lose... :)
i remember when i was a kid, my grandma use a thread to remove my tooth and gave me money so i won't cry. haha!
@sheshebaylosis Good ol' Grandma lol! I've heard about that, but not done it lol... We have our second eldest for tooth removal :)
is she's the one on the video? good job for her. maybe someday she'll be a dentist by profession :)
Yeah lol :) She's on here too @vixxen - an amazing artist and she's only 14 :)
when I was small, my mum never gave me fanta haha
@aaronli Now there's something wrong about that lol!! Do over :)
Losing teeth is one of the grossest parts of parenthood. I have never helped pull a tooth. I think it is so gross!! My oldest son would pull his out on his own during rest time. He had four pulled out before he turned 5. Some of them were not very lose at all. Then he took a video of himself pulling his last one. It's pretty funny but still gross to me. Then he helped my daughter pull hers the other day. It wasn't totally lose either. She said he just pushed it backward until it came out and then he kept calling himself her dentist. I mean, that's gross. We don't do the tooth fairy but my kids do want something under their pillow. They give me the tooth and I get them something from our dollar store collection and stick it under there when they sleep. They know it is from me. Sometimes we skip that altogether and just go to the dollar store and let them pick something. Ha. Fun times. Pretty weird that they used to burn their teeth long ago.
@apanamamama I'm actually grateful that our daughter is able to help them out. I can still remember what it's like to have a tooth that's lose and hurts when you eat. Sounds like you have a dentist too :).
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