Our oldest son, W, is seven. A little over a year ago he lost his first tooth and I thought I was a darn genius for the
Tooth Fairy gift I left him. I had read stories and statuses of children getting like $5 and $10 bills from the tooth fairy and that just wasn't going to happen in our house. Especially not with four kids and four mouths full of teeth. So I came up with the oh so brilliant idea of a re-gifting tooth fairy. You see, I have two big boxes in my attic full of my "vintage" LEGO Star Wars sets. And by vintage, I mean about 12 years old and no longer made. That night when he lost his first tooth, the tooth fairy left him a shiny new $1 coin and one of my LEGO kits. He was thrilled and that made me happy.
Two nights ago he lost his sixth tooth. And by lost, I mean my husband yanked it out because it was dangling. For every one of the six teeth that have come out, he has received one of my LEGO Star Wars sets and a $1 coin. Because once you start something, you can't stop. Now in theory, this is not a bad idea. It reuses old toys in the attic, costs me nothing (except the $1 coin) and makes the child very happy. I still think it is a good idea... if you have just one child. Maybe two.
After the tooth fairy placed the recent prize under his pillow is when it hit me. I don't have one or two kids, I have four. I know I have enough LEGO kits to get through all of W's baby teeth - but then what do I do with the next three kids? I am not running out and buying new LEGO sets for all of them, but if they don't get the same things their big brother got, they will be devastated. I have completely set myself up for disaster. I wish I had started off with just the $1 coin and no toys at all. Me and my big ideas.
So now I am rethinking this and trying to come up with a better game plan. What do your kids get from the tooth fairy?
Ours always just got a nice crisp one dollar bill, straight from the bank. Do you have your old beanie babies? Maybe you can start with those if you still have them. Hmmmm, maybe you can start checking out tag sales.
ReplyDeleteOops!! Hmmm. Now's the time to hit those penny auctions or start new traditions with them.Wipe out the Target shelves when toy clearance starts and do a new tou/brand/line with each child.
ReplyDeleteOh boy...I hear ya...the tooth fairy in our house once slept too hard and forgot to get up in the middle of the night... Luckily our daughter bought that maybe it was a busy night and the tooth fairy doesn't have reindeer like Santa so she can't travel as fast. She got double the next night... My daughter loves quarters and its easier for me to sneak - plus they come right out of the change jar... The tooth fairy brings 4 quarters for each tooth.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you're pretty screwed at this point. ;)
ReplyDeleteDo you have any other old toys you can regift? Can you steal them from your oldest and regift them to the second kid?
I think you're okay doing something different with child #2 as long as it's something neat. Find something else to regift, make something really nice, or maybe go/do some sort of activity, and that will become the new tradition for that child.
We have ALL done something similar! I started giving my daughter my old books from when I was a little girl and now she has the whole collection and wants more but I'm out of books! My answer, garage sales. Garage sales, yard sales and tag sales are fantastic ways to buy large collections of a certain type of toy at outstanding prices. Good luck tooth fairy!
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