The Very First

Mairyn had a stellar day yesterday. She lost her first tooth. It has been a day that she has yearned for, and whined for. Every time Eliza lost a tooth, Mairyn would lament the fact that she still hadn't lost one yet. (she was 3 for Eliza's first.) We have been wiggling and jiggling this little tooth for a couple weeks. Finally, last night, we yanked hard enough and voila! Out it came! Flying across the kitchen floor, we thought (disastrously) that we had truly lost the tooth. Great, what kind of a Mom am I? I lose her first tooth. Eliza recovered it on the floor by the stove and Mairyn held the prize victoriously aloft. Much like her tonsils this last summer! We took pictures, put the tooth in a glass of water and went to bed. (well, the kids went to bed. I stayed up until I was good and ready to sleep) Yes, we put the tooth in a glass of water. This stems from my childhood. I think there were a few too many teeth lost under the pillow or the child was roused in the tooth envelope extraction. I just know that when I was about 9, my Dad switched us over to putting the tooth in a glass of water and the Tooth Fairy began leaving copious amounts of change at the bottom of said glass. Also, one time I got a letter from the Tooth Fairy. I thought that was the coolest thing. Ever. She even left inky footprints because she had trodden in her wet signature. In reality, my parents had forgotten a few nights in a row. There had been some recent snowstorms and the T.F. said she had been held up by the awful North Dakota winter weather. Likely story, but I was 6. I lapped that up like cream in a saucer. I saved that letter for quite a while. I think it was the key to figuring out who the T.F. really was; I noticed the handwriting matched up with one of my parental units. I was 7 or so. Anyway, I loved that tradition and that's what we do in our family. Anyone have any unique Tooth Fairy traditions?