Does The Tooth Fairy Travel?

September 29, 2017 / momwithamap /

Does the Tooth Fairy travel? This is not a rhetorical question- I seriously want to know!

Of all the million and one questions run by me every day, I can’t believe this summer I found myself unprepared to answer this one! Here’s how it all happened…

My daughter, Mary Grace, has a tendency to be a tad dramatic. Combine drama with the fact that she talks non-stop and you will quickly get a clear picture of how a typical loose tooth scenario goes in our household. For weeks we all get a play by play.

I am ALWAYS aware of the status of EACH one of her teeth. I can typically tell when we’re closing in on the last week because she begins asking for soft food. I kid you not. Of course I roll my eyes and tell her to eat on the other side of her mouth. But that doesn’t stop her from asking. Every.Time.

All this to say, I usually have at least a month long heads up on a Tooth Fairy visit!

So imagine my surprise when we wake up one morning on vacation and she reports her tooth “very loose.” I couldn’t believe this was the first I was hearing about said tooth considering I typically get notified when she thinks one might be getting a teeny tiny bit wiggly. But, I still took the news with a grain of salt.

We spent all day walking around New York City. Every time I turned around she had her fingers in her mouth wiggling the tooth (not exactly what you want with a kid walking around a big, germ-y city!) Not only that- I got status updates almost every block. Again, my concern was extremely low.

Never would suspect a tooth on the brink of falling out when she devoured this pizza!

Shortly after eating a ridiculous amount of pizza without a single complaint, my concern was non-exhistant. And about that time she announced she lost the tooth.

Not just lost it, but LOST it.

Guess where we were? Yep, right in the middle of Times Square. So here I am- down on my hands and knees- searching for a microscopic tooth in the middle of Times Square. Seriously, who does this happen to?!?! About 20 strangers joined in the search (no doubt they thought the were looking for something of actual value!)

Miraculously, my 5-year old spotted and recovered the tooth. I closed the book on that problem and assumed we were in for smooth sailing the rest of the day.

WRONG!

Making our way to the financial district and the 9/11 Memorial my daughter suddenly stopped in her tracks and said in a panic “Wait, does the Tooth Fairy travel?”

After I’d apologized to the 20 people who piled up behind her in a domino effect traffic jam, I turned to my husband with curious eyes. Hmm, that’s a good question. For most people the answer might be “sure, why not?” But I’d created a huge dilemma. Our Tooth Fairy brings glittery dollar bills.

And I had it on good authority that the Tooth Fairy hadn’t traveled with any supplies.

So I spent the next two hours popping into every single drugstore/grocery store we passed in search of glitter. Wouldn’t you know, the entire city of New York seemed to be out!

*Incidentally, we will NEVER travel without our Glitter Glue Pens again!

Not knowing what else to do, I posted the question on Facebook to find out what others thought: Does The Tooth Fairy Travel?

I ended up with TONS of great responses and thankfully concocted a plan based on the suggestions.

Over a late dinner I ended up telling Mary Grace that there are lots of different Tooth Fairies that cover different states. And so they try to just travel within their own region…and I was pretty sure NY was out of our region. I let her know that she could place the tooth under her pillow and a Tooth Fairy would visit her at the hotel. But it probably wouldn’t be ours.

OR she could hang on to the tooth, bring it home and put it under her own pillow. That would ensure a visit from hers. I left the situation up to her.

She debated for far too long. And asked a lot of questions. In the end she concluded that Tooth Fairies might pay at different rates.

Since the price of gas is higher in NY than at home, there was a chance the Tooth Fairy would bring less money than at home. Did I mention that she’s incredibly smart, and very naturally blonde? The combination produces some funny theories. And this story about the currency conversion of a dollar between NC and NY was even better than I could have made up!

She took very good care of her tooth for the rest of the trip- and enjoyed a visit from OUR regional Tooth Fairy upon returning home. So there you have my answer to: does the Tooth Fairy travel?

Does The Tooth Fairy Travel?