Lost tooth 1, Dubai – Well….DS2 was so excited to lose his first tooth.  Bottom left.  It seemed to be wobbly for what seemed like forever.  Yet the suddeness of the ‘fall’ surprised us all.  One minute it was there, the next, it was painlessly (and thankfully blood free!) balancing in the palm of his hand. An excited household prepared for the Tooth Fairy’s anticipated arrival that evening.  The tooth was brushed (probably better than the actual teeth left in his head!), carefully wrapped in pristine, white tissue paper and placed under the softest of pillows.  This meant the Fairy would have to rummage through what looked like the Himalayas of pillows to find her booty……a test by DS2 who didn’t quite understand that in order to receive the compensation, the Fairy needs to be able to find the trade off!

Compensation: AED20/Euros 4/GBP3

Lost tooth 2 , England – It seems that once the first tooth goes, every other tooth decides to wobble.  For weeks, DS2 was tugging at various pearly whites, all in the name of seeking out the next ‘victim’.  Well….the English breakfast sausage did it…..it was the day DS2 was due to walk onto the Anfield pitch as the Liverpool mascot.  The gummy look didn’t seem to bother him.  A rite of passage.  In his mind, he was catching up with his class mates.

Compensation: GBP5 – AED 30 (the Tooth Fairy’s international colleauge in Britain is clearly more generous….perhaps because she allowed for tax that might be owed on the amount gifted….).  As a bonus he got to keep the tooth as Mummy had to see it!

Lost tooth 3, Hong Kong – After a fabulous, nerve tickling 2nd day at Disney HK, I was the one to suggest ice cream to fuel us on our way to the metro station.  It was hot, stuffy and sweaty.  Ice cream would definitely help the mood.  I am not saying it would improve it. I was just saying it might make the trip back to the hotel less painful.

How wrong could I be???  Half way down the Disney main street DS2 stoppped in his tracks.  Contorting his tongue in his mouth, he looked as if he had caught something in a place that needed to be flossed with extra fine satin.  Blood seeped along the gum line and threatened to dribble down the pearly whites in Dracula fashion.  His fingers looked way too engaged in his mouth to be up to anything other than ‘tooth pulling’.

By the time I realised why he was procrastinating, he had yanked out the tooth.  And yes….bits of the gum were still attached..

Cue the questions….

Will the fairy know where to find the tooth?

Will the tooth fairy pay me the same as the English tooth fairy?

Where does the tooth fairy live?

XE.com – anyone?

At that point I noticed DS2 getting paler by the second.  Clutching his tummy, he doubled over and parked himself on the pavement to take a moment.  It was as if the blood were draining from his head to his toes.  His cheeks whitened and then his lips blanched.  I prepared myself for vomit.  The shock of losing a tooth was taking its toll!

Thankfully a stint indoors in a temperature controlled environment did the trick and the colour steadily returned to his cheeks as quickly as it left them.

Compensation: HK$20/AED10/Euros 2/GBP1.50

Interestingly, it didn’t matter to DS2 that the HK Tooth Fairy offered the least amount of compensation (especially for a top front tooth!)……he got a colourful, crisp $ note.  In the world of 6 year olds, paper money is more valuable than coins…..

Well, it definitely seems that DS2’s dental surprises are keeping us on our toes!  We now expect him to lose a tooth each and every time we travel.  Next one should fall out in summer!  Let’s see how the Irish Tooth Fairy measures up to her international counterparts….if only there were some form of international tooth currency converter……