The Tooth Fairy Feels Your Exchange Rate Pain
Two days before we left for London, my son Max discovered his first wiggly tooth. He was deliriously excited. He was also a little worried about logistics and—being a second-born child—fairness.
At our house, the tooth fairy pays $1 per tooth. Max knows this.
England and Spain have their own currencies. Max knows this too.
He lost no time pestering us for accurate exchange rate information.
If the tooth fell out in England, his likely profit was 49 pence. If it fell out in Spain, he was entitled to 63 euro cents.
Paying less than one unit of the local currency was obviously fair from a sibling standpoint, but frankly it struck me as ridiculous.
Apparently the tooth fairy agreed.
The tooth finally came out in Spain (where we were astonished to learn they have a tooth rat instead of a tooth fairy), and Max collected 1 euro. Like a person who finds $20 in the back of a taxi, he cagily pocketed the windfall without a word.
Luckily his sister didn’t notice.
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Looking for family friendly accommodations in Europe? Look no more.
July 15th, 2008 | by Jamie Pearson 6 comments
1. Seana on July 15th, 2008
What a windfall for Max! Still, imagine the exchange pain if the toothfairy had provdided the exchangeable rate for the $5 per tooth that she leaves at my house!
2. The Tooth Fairy on July 15th, 2008
Congratulations Max , I just got back too from a Spanish holiday, you might like to see a pages on my Fairies World website that explains about tooth traditions.
As for the world exchange rates against the Euro, well that is another story! The pound sterling doesn’t fare too well either at the moment against the Euro.
3. Rebecca on July 21st, 2008
Ha! We’ve been teasing Julia (who is terrified of losing teeth, despite having been through the routine twice now) that she should wiggle fast before those shiny gold pounds under her pillow become shiny silver dollars. Alas, even the lure of cold hard cash does not seem to mitigate the fear of pain…
4. Sheri on August 5th, 2008
HA! Funny story!
I did an author school assembly the other day, and told the assembled k-4th graders that the tooth fairy ONLY deals in quarters, because she’s got to make her life simple. If they found something else under their pillows, it’s because their parents got involved. HA!
I’ve had a lot of parents thank me for helping to keep down their tooth budgets.
Sheri
Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt
Author, You Think It’s Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?
12,000 copies sold!
http://www.4kids.Bell-Rehwoldt.com
5. Kam on August 5th, 2008
African children leave their tooth under a gourd, where it is replaced by a chicken.
Try bringing that home on the plane.
6. ladybugcda on December 1st, 2008
Hi, I’m the Toothfairy online and I hope you will visit my whimsical yet informative website, it is sure to make you smile! Please sign my guestbook with your comments.
Good-bye, gotta fly!
http://www.toothfairycyberspace.com
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