Here is O proudly posing with the $1 coin the tooth fairy brought him. The little white stuffed tooth with the red pocket is a hand-me-down from C's family. You put your tooth in the pocket and put the entire thing under your pillow so as to prevent losing the small item. Then, when you wake up, there is a coin in its place. In my day, I had a tiny little container that, if I remember correctly, was clear plastic with a hinged lid.
Anyway, the tooth fairy stuck O's tooth in his baby book on the teeth cutting page. The tooth fairy did that for my first tooth too. The rest of the teeth went wherever the tooth fairy has her collection.
The whole tooth fairy/santa/easter bunny thing has always bothered me. On one hand, I remember as a child loving the mystery of it all. Even after I learned the truth it was fun to play along for my younger sisters. However, I am uncomfortable with the charade. I have so far just acknowledged these characters to the kids because they are so much a part of our culture but I don't make a big deal out of them. If you don't believe that these characters are a huge part of our culture, hang out with a kid sometime and see how often adults talk about them. Friends, family and total strangers love to ask the kids, "what did Santa bring you?" "Are you being good so Santa will bring you gifts?" "I see you lost a tooth. Did the tooth fairy come?" and so on. Others make a big enough deal of it that I don't have to!
I strive to make it more about the tradition we are trying to establish be it the family time that the holidays bring or the ceremony of celebrating the lost tooth milestone. I never use these characters to bribe for good behavior and I try to focus as little on them as possible.
It IS possible to keep the mystery and fun in these things without letting the whole charade get out of control.
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