Traveling Tooth Fairy
Months before our European vacation this past winter, our 7 year old had several funky teeth sticking out that looked ready to come out but weren’t budging. Our daughter had lost her first 4 teeth already and, with each tooth lost, had been visited by the tooth fairy. Our family’s tooth fairy, Daisy, here in Houston, leaves $2 dollar bills folded up in fun origami designs in return for the tooth and a nice typed or handwritten letter in response our children’s handwritten note for Daisy. She’s visited all our children when they lost teeth over the years. Our daughter wondered what would happen if she lost a tooth while we were in Europe! Would the tooth fairy travel? Are there other tooth fairies who partner with Daisy to help? Would the tooth fairy take the tooth or leave something behind? We weren’t sure what would happen, but since she was not complaining or messing around with her teeth, we didn’t put much thought to it.
On Christmas Eve night, while we were enjoying a quiet, gourmet river-boat dinner under the Eiffel Tower, our daughter suddenly burst out “I lost a tooth!!!!” Taken by surprise and not quite sure what just happened, we looked over and sure enough, she had a bloody tooth in her hand! Our server discretely helped place the tooth in a napkin to take home. Our toothless girl asked, “Does France have tooth fairies?” The server said, “No, but we do have a tooth mouse that visits children who loose teeth!‘La Petite Souris’.”
Intrigued, our daughter put her tooth under her pillow that night wondering what might come of the tooth mouse. As the girls went to bed, something caught her older sister’s ear, a scuffling in the corner of the apartment we rented. They looked over. It was a mouse!!! Their older brother, saw it too! Any other day, they may have squealed in fear and jumped up on the bed. Instead, they giggled and went to bed dreaming of the tooth mouse! Sure enough, the next morning, the snacks nearby had been nibbled, the tooth was gone and a crisp Euro bill lay in its place.
We later discovered the tooth mouse is very common in Spain and Hispanic cultures as well, under the name “El Raton Perez” or “El Ratoncito Perez”. Several other European countries have a combination of a tooth fairy and/or a tooth mouse. According to the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, “In Argentina and Sweden, children leave baby teeth in glasses of water to keep their fairy friend hydrated on their travels. In the morning, they often find coins left in the glass.” In many Asian countries and places such as the Dominican Republic, Brazil, India, Jamaica and Greece, children throw their teeth on the roof and hope a stronger tooth grows in its place (like the strong teeth of a mouse). In El Salvador, a tooth bunny visits children to exchange the lost tooth for money. In other countries, such as in Egypt, children wrap their tooth in tissue and throw it at the sun, asking for a stronger tooth in its place, or children simply throw the tooth and make a wish.
After Paris, we traveled to London, England. Over the next few days, surprising things kept happening with our 7 year old and her teeth! She lost another tooth in London! There, like in the US, she received a note from Daisy who had traveled to England to leave a few British pounds in exchange for her tooth!
It was a very exciting and memorable trip for our sweet girl to lose two teeth on her first trip to Europe!
