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.