The Tooth Fairy

On my way to book club last night, I saw a sign in the window of a store stating:

Tooth Fairy Registry here

I actually stopped walking and stared at the display window for a few minutes; I just couldn’t believe the nonsense of this idea!

I walked into the store to ask someone what this tooth fairy registry was about because I didn’t want to assume anything. The clerk told me it is a chance for kids to write down what they want to get when they lose their teeth. Sadly I assumed correctly.

Instead of saying “Are you kidding me?” I told the clerk “Thank you!” I proceeded to barge out of the store and ruminated on this idea until I got to the book club location.
I just can’t believe it! The whole idea of the tooth fairy in my house was that you would put your newly lost tooth under the pillow, and upon waking up the next day you’d have a little gift there. My parents, I mean the tooth fairy, gave me money, which I showed them proudly when I went to the breakfast table. My mom was always surprised and would say ‘Wow!’ or something to that end. My dad would advise me to save the money so that I could buy something I really wanted. I learned via the tooth fairy to budget for items I really wanted. Now it seems that kids just get whatever they want right off the bat. How does that teach kids to be responsible for money and for what they want? I’m not sure what this tooth fairy registry teaches kids except that they don’t have to work for anything.

Maybe I’m missing something here. It’s been a long time since I was a kid and the world has changed.