My oldest lost his first tooth a year ago: front and center. The tooth fairy left him a dollar under his pillow. I admit it, it seemed a little rich to me. A whole dollar? How many teeth is he going to lose again? Is this going to drive us into the poor house? I think I remember 10 cents, or even a quarter under my pillow--that was enough to buy 23 Swedish fish at the corner pharmacy, plus tax.

My son has his four whole dollars from the tooth fairy on his dresser where they make him feel rich and powerful. He has more fun thinking of what he could buy than actually making us take him to buy anything. He also leaves the tooth fairy notes.

She wrote him one on the occasion of his first lost tooth and signed it with a wand. “That’s how you know it’s really from the tooth fairy,” the kid said in the morning. He wrote back this last time and asked if there were both girl and boy tooth fairies. She said “Yes!” and signed with a wand.

Tell me how your assigned tooth fairy works in your house. Does she leave notes? Cold, hard cash? If so, how much? Is she unionized? Is he a boy?