Loosing your first tooth

You can see the heart shaped new tooth poking through

Well it finally happened, the little girl I take care of lost her first tooth, she is 6 years old.  She was very nervous about the whole situation.  It had been wobbling for quite a while now but it didn't seem to be getting any closer.  I think she was worried about pain and blood and basically the 'unknown'.  It was quite an emotional ride for her, one that after it had dropped out, apparently due to 'sitting on the carpet and drinking a glass of water' she was ecstatic.  She was so happy...and kept telling me so ALL AFTERNOON.

Her mother had bought her a pretty pink pillow with a fairy on it and a pocket at the back for the tooth.....she is so excited to see what the tooth fairy brings tonight.












I tried to remember loosing my first tooth but don't seem to have any memory.  I do remember that I used to put it under my pillow, wrapped in a tissue.....Mum told me this was to protect it but I'm pretty sure it's so that she could find it!!!!!  And when I woke up in the morning I had a 10 pence coin in it's place.  I remember thinking it was magic (just like Father Christmas).

All over the world there are different traditions of what to do with your tooth when you loose it.

In Mexico El Raton, the magic mouse visits you at night while you sleep (sounds spooky) and takes your tooth from a box on the side of your bed and leaves you money.

Native American traditions include wrapping the tooth in food and feeding it to a dog, putting it in a tree and dancing around the tree, and burying a tooth near a bush.

In Costa Rica the tooth is covered in gold and made into an earring.

In Dominican Republic and Botswana they throw their tooth on the roof.


All these interesting facts come from a wonderful book called 'Throw your tooth on the roof'.
We have enjoyed reading this many times.

By Selby Beeler and Illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Do you have any tooth traditions of your own or funny stories as a parent playing the tooth fairy role?