Traditionally, we celebrate the falling of the teeth with a visit from the tooth fairy who exchanges money for the tooth that is left under pillows.

But that tradition does not sit well with me, so for my son, Juan, I made a little pouch instead.  Why a pouch?

My children have a tendency to keep treasures, so we have a treasure box, a treasure drawer, (actually I have more than one myself) so why not a Tooth Fairy pouch for some prized teeth?  It gives him a sense of how important this is, deserving something special and we didn’t have to deal with the implications and repercussions of giving money as prizes or gifts… yet.

It was one of my midnight projects and I had to make do with what I had in stock.  Another limitation is that I can not use something he has already seen, otherwise it will lessen the magic that it came from the tooth fairy.

I also had to resist the impulse of making something else to place inside the pouch because it may detract from what it’s supposed to be.  I just sprinkled some fairy dust (glitters) to add to magic and hoped that my son will appreciate this simple gift.

And it was my turn to be surprised.

Given a pouch or a bag, an adult would eagerly look for what else was there inside.  He, to my quiet amazement, just matter-of-factly told his father he got a Tooth Pouch and I could clearly see he was happy with it.  He didn’t check for anything else, he just excitedly placed his newly fallen tooth inside.  I could tell he was happy with his gift because he couldn’t just put it away.

I’m so glad he liked it, but I’m even happier that it was enough.  Needless to say, I got teary-eyed seeing his appreciation and his innocence.  My little reminder of the child that he is even when he is slowly turning into a little man.

But what other things can you give your child if you would rather not give them money or coins?

Here’s the simple instructions in My Quaint Life.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 8:58 am and is filed under Kidstuff, Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.