by Tricia
My little boy is growing up so fast. I noticed him playing with his teeth and I asked him what he was doing.
“My tooth is loose. That means the tooth fairy is going to give me money for my tooth.”
You’d think I’d be prepared for this milestone in my son’s life. Although I noticed some of the kids in his school with missing teeth, it never connected in my mind was it was soon my baby’s time to lose his teeth. Scratch that…he’s not a baby anymore. But sometimes I regress and can’t help but remember when those precious teeth peeked through his gums and the joy that came with it.
Here’s the dilemma. His tooth fairy is in debt and is trying to dig out of it. So how much money should she leave under his pillow?
The majority of people who responded to a poll at BabyCenter.com give their child $1.00 per tooth. Since a child has a total of 20 baby teeth, $1.00 a piece would cost the tooth fairy $20 over 4-6 years. I think for now, that is what the debt-ridden tooth fairy will leave. However, she has something else up her sleeve.
She is going to leave something extra special for that very first tooth. She’s thinking of leaving a savings bond for $25. Since she’s in debt, she thinks it would be a great learning lesson for the little lad to learn about how money can grow. He’ll have the option of redeeming the bond when he loses his last tooth (at around age 10-12).
The tooth fairy could keep that money and put it towards her debt, but she knows the value in helping children to have healthy financial habits when they are older. That $25 will be an investment in that child’s life that will hopefully bring a great return. That thought alone brings a large smile to the tooth fairy’s face.
