So, your child lost their tooth today, but the tooth is nowhere to be found and the Tooth Fairy is waiting.
Maybe they swallowed it in their sleep, or accidentally ate it with their cereal in the morning. Or maybe it fell out during recess or a soccer game—or while swimming in the pool.
Either way, you’re probably asking yourself: “Now what?”
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Before you and your child panic, let’s first take a deep breath.
These things happen more often than you’d think, and you can still make this a memorable experience for you and your child.
Sure, you’ll have to ditch the normal tradition of leaving the tooth under the pillow, but it also opens the door to a world of new possibilities for making this moment a special one.
But first things first: let’s console your child and make them feel a little better about the situation. After all, losing a tooth is a big deal for any child, and they’re expecting a little something in return.
Of course, that means coming up with a little backstory.
Most parents keep it simple and let their child know that the Tooth Fairy, with all of her magic, knows when you lose your tooth, whether you leave it under your pillow or not.
You can then explain that the Tooth Fairy deals with this all the time and has protections in place for those who can’t find their lost tooth.
From there, you have a couple of different options for making a new, temporary Tooth Fairy tradition to ensure your child gets their reward at the end of the night.
Write the Tooth Fairy a letter
The most practical way to get the Tooth Fairy’s attention when you don’t have the tooth is to have your child write an apologetic letter explaining what happened.
Once signed by your child, have them put the letter under their pillow, just like they would a tooth.
But it doesn’t have to just be a letter. Here are a few ways to have extra fun with it:
- Have your child draw a picture of what the tooth looked like
- Leave a tooth-shaped item, like a pebble, under the pillow instead
- Describe where they lost it so the Tooth Fairy can send it’s “Lost & Found Department” to go look for it
- Draw a map leading the Tooth Fairy to wherever you think the missing tooth is
- Take a picture of the gap in your child’s tooth and leave it under the pillow as evidence
As the parent, it’s your job to remove the letter at night, and swap it with a response from the Tooth Fairy, as well as their reward.
But don’t make the same mistake other parents made.
When handwriting the response, make sure you don’t use your own handwriting. Your child will pick up on this and it could ruin the tradition for them.
And if you’re typing the response on the computer, don’t save the file because your child will find it.
Leave the Tooth Fairy a voicemail
Writing a letter is so 2000-and-late, isn’t it?
Nowadays, most children know how to use a phone by the age of five and many of them have a phone of their own by the age of 12.
If writing a letter doesn’t suit your child’s style, then maybe they’d feel better leaving the Tooth Fairy a voicemail. You can even tell them that you have the Tooth Fairy’s assistant’s number!
In the message, have your child explain what happened and make sure they let the Tooth Fairy know they would still love a visit from them at night.
This is a great way to keep your child engaged with the tradition, and you can make it even more fun by leaving a voicemail reply for them in the morning.
But like the letter, make sure you don’t use your normal voice and change the contact in your phone so it says “Tooth Fairy” on your phone.
Talk to the Tooth Fairy on the phone
If you have some help from a friend or family member, you can ditch the voicemail and have your child talk directly to the Tooth Fairy instead.
This only works if you have someone who can pose as the Tooth Fairy without giving their voice away. And don’t underestimate your child—they notice the tiniest details sometimes.
Again, make sure you change the contacts in your phone. If your friend Amy is playing the Tooth Fairy, change her name to Tooth Fairy prior to your child calling her.
If your friend isn’t good at improvising, you can help them out by writing down some notes and giving them a heads up of what your child might say.
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And while you could just tell your child, “No tooth, no reward,” there’s no fun in that for anyone. So, hopefully the ideas above can help keep the tradition alive!