Have you ever just chuckled when you are smack dab in the middle of a conversation, and then you realize if there were any outside ears listening, that person would surely raise their eyebrows and wonder about you?

Yes, our family has far too many of those, but it sure does make life interesting, and keeps the theme of Beauty AND bedlam permeating throughout all areas.

Well, we had one of those recently. It involved the going rate of the tooth fairy, and what constitutes a “tooth worthy of cold, hard cash.”

Now before you think me harsh, realize that we have five children. That’s a lot of teeth, a lot of dentist bills, and a lot of discussions about money from those teeth, and how to save money on them, not throw it away.

Just last week, our eldest had three wisdom teeth pulled. Now even though he was very brave when he lost those teeth, yes, a character trait which typically constitutes “a tooth worthy of cold, hard cash,” those teeth, now in a little plastic baggy, cost us literally $1,000 times the going rate of the tooth fairy, so unfortunately, I had to renege on that one.

That was an easy mom decision, but what about those teeth that have cavities? And maybe not just one cavity, but a tooth already that has cost us its weight in gold, or silver, or whatever they use these days?

This was a tricky thought process for me. There have been those dental visits where the dentist assured me that cavity snuck in there, and there was nothing our child could do about it, but there have also been those cavities where he assured me, they needed to step up their brushing.

Remember my last post with my confessions about being a Dental Visit Failure? Yep, that was one of THOSE visits. Some of our children are responsible and diligent brushers, and some are just lazy. We are trying to stay on top of our lazy brushers. 🙂

So, do you moms draw the line on which teeth get money?

Do you even give money when your child loses their teeth? If you do, how much?

For as long as I can remember, we gave a bit extra for the first tooth that our kids lost, but then assured them, the tooth fairy was congratulating them for being such a big boy or girl, but mom didn’t think it would be as much next time. 😉

Yes, frugal to the core, I am, but then one of my friends told me that their neighborhood tooth fairy gives $5 for each tooth. FIVE DOLLARS?? I didn’t realize that the tooth fairy gauged his rounds on inflation. Is this an issue of keeping up with the Jones?

So, let’s fess up. I think I am really out of it.

What is the going rate for the tooth fairy these day?