Saturday, April 26, 2014

Money can't buy "rememberies"

Remember the tooth fairy?  As a young child wiggling that tooth in anticipation for the little fairy to visit you at night and leave you some cold hard cash for your old dead tooth.  I always wanted to be brave enough to tie a string around my tooth and a door knob and slam the door, this scenario always sounded so cool to me!  I was never that brave!!  I did however wait patiently for that tooth to make it's way out, and the first thing I would do was put it under my pillow for the tooth fairy!  I remember the excitement of awaking in the morning and finding a dollar under my pillow!

The world revolves around money!  We learn this at a young age.  We are not really sure why we need that dollar for our tooth or what we possibly would need to buy with that dollar, but it's exciting none the less!  As you grow you continue to accumulate dollars in birthday cards, or as a special gift from your grandparents.  Again having nothing you really need to buy the money finds it's way into your piggy bank or your first little Velcro wallet.  You carry your dollars around in your first little hand me down hand bag your mom was going to toss.  The years go on and occasionally you get into your piggy bank and decide to count your dollars.  You no longer know where these dollars came from or where the location of all those lucky pennies you picked up was.  It's just money!  No memories attached to them, just a bank full of change.

I have three children whom are in the tooth losing ages.  They have a loose tooth every week it seems!  When the tooth finally makes it's way out (they are not brave enough to do the doorknob trick either, so sometimes it takes a while), they excitedly place their tooth under the pillow in anticipation of a visit from the tooth fairy.  Now a days my kids get 5,6,7 bucks for their teeth!  I work at a school and hear of some children getting upwards of 20 dollars for their teeth, makes me want to knock some of mine out!  I guess with inflation and growing economy the price of teeth has gone up!

Recently my son had lost his tooth.  The tooth is probably his seventh tooth he has lost.  He lost it at school and came home with it in a tiny treasure chest.  These days the school nurses have cool little necklaces or treasure chests for lost teeth to insure they get home safely for the tooth fairy.  My son came home excited to show me his new empty gap in his mouth and his cute little treasure chest holding his baby tooth.  I told him, "Cool!, now go put it under your pillow so the tooth fairy can find it!"  His response, "Is it O.K. If I don't put it under my pillow?"  Hmmmm, now I was confused!  He goes on to say, "If I put my tooth under my pillow the tooth fairy will take it and just give me money, I want to keep this tooth as a remembery!"  Smart kid!!  He's right, money can't buy "rememberies".  Do not educate your child to be rich.  Educate him to be happy.  So when he grows up, he'll know the value of things, not the price.

29 comments:

  1. I agree with you 100% I sometime hear my son say "I want to be rich" so his father and I will tell him just how rich he is by naming all the wonderful things he has in life that are not material. I want him to learn the value of things when he is older.

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  2. Such a great story! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. I always wanted the money when I was a kid! lol. Sounds like you have a beautiful family!

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  4. that is so sweet, and will be a good memory!

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  5. This is an awesome story. Thanks for sharing

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  6. Money can cause more problems than it's worth. My parents are business owners and said things were much easier when they were working paycheck to paycheck. Things were simpler an happier.

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  7. I love that quote at the end. That is so true!

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  8. My kids were always excited for a visit from the tooth fairy. They really wanted the money.

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  9. OMGosh, that is my new favorite kid word. "Rememberies." Gosh, that's ridiculously cute!

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  10. Oh my goodness! How cute- rememberies!!! I love it. This was so sweet- my daughter was so excited over losing her teeth!

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  11. The school clinic is so kind to have the tooth delivered in a small chest. Memories are much more important than money.

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  12. Very cute story I enjoyed it very much, thanks for sharing.

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  13. very nice story, when i was a kid i loved getting money from my grandma,

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  14. That last poster has inspired when I first saw it and it was really true what money can't buy is wisdom and true happiness.

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  15. That is great that he wanted to keep the tooth. I was a terrible tooth fairy, my kids only got money for their first tooth, and even that I forgot with 2 out of the 3. They had to remind me the next day. They didn't believe in the tooth fairy, so I didn't even bother to pretend.

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  16. There are really many things that money can't buy like Happiness.. Happiness is the main driving force in our life and ultimately all we want is to be happy. Study, get a job, earn money, get married and be happy. Isn’t this the most sought after life plan of every other human being? But true happiness is often found in little things that are way beyond to be bought using money. A smile from a stranger, a giggle from a new born, a hug from your best friend or a kiss from your lover. You can buy none of these and they still make you happy much more than money ever can.

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  17. my daughter thinks the tooth fairy doesn't like her because I only do the normal few dollars and the other kids get upwards of 10 and I just think that is a little much. Kids don't understand money now days

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  18. Your overall message makes an exceptional point. There's a heck of a lot more to life than money. It makes life easier, but it doesn't make it perfect.

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  19. What a wonderful story! My daughter swallowed one of hers and she left the fairy a note. I kept that one. :)

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  20. I so agree with this statement about money can't buy memories. You don't need cash for that. Thanks for sharing

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  21. What a great reminder about what is really important to your children's lives. Thanks for sharing this uplifting post.

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  22. Great post! I don't believe in tooth fairy but my son's father taught him to believe in it. I have tried to keep some of his teeth by bying them from him instead of him giving them to the toothfairy. Later on he started to ask me to keep the teeth instead of giving them to the fairy and now he has them in his room as memories.

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  23. That quote has so much value. I love this post. It was a great read.

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  24. What a great post! I wish more people would teach their children what you teach your son,

    Michelle F.

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