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Tooth Fairy Phobia
Rated by 3 members
"That gap is so big, I could shop for khakis in there," a friend teased Grace as she proudly showed him the latest void left by her third lost tooth.
The third time's a charm, I hoped to myself. After two previous attempts, we thought we'd finally gotten the whole Tooth Fairy thing down. Not so — my 6-year-old had developed a Tooth Fairy phobia.
The first time we left a tooth under the pillow, Grace got up three times in the night from excitement, and the poor Tooth Fairy was barely able to complete her mission.
The second time it took the Tooth Fairy two nights to covertly secure Grace's tooth due to light sleeping brought on by anticipation.
And this third time, anticipation had given way to full-blown anxiety. Before bedtime, as we slipped the tooth under the pillow, she said, "Mama, I'm nervous. If I wake up while the Tooth Fairy's here, I'll be scared."
Scared? Of the Tooth Fairy? It had never dawned on me. I felt dense for not realizing how sensible it is for a child to lie awake, fearfully anticipating a stranger entering her room in the middle of the night — no matter how benign, charming, and generous she might be.
After clearing up a few things — the Tooth Fairy is not a big grown-up, but more like a light-as-a-feather Barbie-sized sprite; she won't get tired and fall asleep in a child's bed, where she might bite in self-defense if a child accidentally rolls upon her; and she doesn't play mischievous tricks like Tinkerbell — we decided to ask her for a little favor.
Grace wrote the Tooth Fairy a short note asking if she could forego the whole under-the-pillow technicality and inquired if the Tooth Fairy would mind conducting the transaction in another part of the house.
We left the little letter, along with the tooth, downstairs on the kitchen table in a teacup. Grace slept soundly and in the morning found a buck twenty-five in the cup. We surmised the twenty-five cent bonus was a reward for being so honest about how she felt and coming up with a good solution. That Tooth Fairy is so nice.
Member Comments On…
Tooth Fairy Phobia
My son had the same phobia about the tooth fairy. We put his tooth in a little plastic container and placed it in the living room on the TV. My son's room is upstairs so he didn't feel afraid of her coming into the house! This year he is turning 10 and it is the end of our fairy tail world--no Santa, Tooth Fairy or Easter Bunny. It's a little sad!!!
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My daughter sleeps like a log so we just do the tooth under the pillow thing. My problem is sometimes the tooth fairy gets really sleepy before she deposits the money for the tooth and has to remember to do it.
One thing that I do is keep the teeth in a little box. My daughter found the box and wanted to know why I have her teeth. I told her that I had asked the tooth fairy to leave them for me in the box so I could keep them. That seemed to satisfy her.
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Our daughter is a light sleeper, as was I, so under the pillow - or even beside the bed was not an option. We have a silk bag that hangs on her door knob - She leaves her toothe in the bag ant night and TF leaves her gift in exchange.
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My daughter has lost 4 teeth and she refuses to give them up. She has them in a little box on her dresser.
I never thought about her being afraid of the tooth fairy.
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We have a tooth fairy pillow - not the pillow that Josh sleeps on, but anotehr designated spot to leave the tooth in exchagne for a reward. We came up with this after my huband pulled out what he thought was dollar bill in the dark (he didnt want to wake Josh by turning on a light - Josh is a light sleeper when excited) and pulled out a ten instead. Imagine our surprise when Josh came running down the stairs the next morning with a ten dollar bill! I was afraid he would go back upstairs and try to pull out the rest of his teeth!
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My kids haven't been afraid of the tooth fairy- they've been the last in the class to lose teeth, so all they heard is the fun when they had their first loose tooth. Their TF, on the first tooth, leaves a letter for them. That daughter just lost her 2nd tooth and she wrote a note telling how good she had been and if she could have an extra $10 for that. I had to write a note back (used gold gel pen for extra sparkle), explaining that while Santa had let the TF know how good she had been, $10 in quarters was way too heavy to carry. The TF left some snowflake erasers instead, hoping they would bring good luck in her wish for snow this year. Now my oldest son is awaiting his next loose tooth so he can write a letter, too. The TF had to leave the things on her little table, though, instead of under her pillow. I might have to keep the little trinket gifts up to justify asking them to leave their tooth not under their pillow.
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I wish I had read something similar to this 6 years age when my oldest lost her first tooth. Letting the toothfairy come to another part of the house is an awesome idea. This child, now 11, caught the toothfairy in her room 4 times in the same night. That was exhausting for the tooth fairy.
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My mother used to have us fold our tooth in a tissue & leave it in an egg cup outside our bedroom door. It is a tradition I used with our children.
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When our 5-1/2 year old daughter lost her first tooth 6 weeks ago, she was PETRIFIED of the tooth fairy so she asked to hold off another night. In the morning my husband asked her why she was afraid & she explained that she didn't like the idea of strangers in her house. He explained that Santa & the Easter Bunny come in & she (very patiently) explained to him that "yeah Daddy, but they don't come close to me or my bed. Duh!" Second tooth was much easier, that's for sure!
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we have a tooth dish that my son puts on his nightstand, since he was worried he might knock his tooth out from under his pillow. Not being under the pillow makes it much easier for the toothfairy!
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