Tooth falls out. Tooth goes under pillow. Tooth Fairy visits, takes tooth and leaves money.
It's a simple enough concept to grasp.
So, when Miss Five spat out her first wiggly tooth with her lunchtime sandwich, I figured that's how things would pan out.
But when bedtime came, things took an unexpected turn.
Having
carefully placed the tiny tooth in its designated pocket in a special Tooth Fairy pillow, Miss Five announced that she wanted to kiss it goodbye.
Retrieving it, she held it to her rosebud lips, gave it a tiny peck and promptly burst into tears.
"I'm really going to miss my tooth," she sobbed.
"I don't want the Tooth Fairy to take it away."
"It's okay," I soothed, mopping up her tears. "You can keep it if you want to."
I placed the tooth in an eggcup and put it on the top shelf of her wardrobe, reassuring her that the Tooth Fairy - whose visit most children eagerly await - wouldn't find it there.
She dozed off happily and slept soundly, while the $2 coin I had set aside (after wide consultation about the going rate for teeth) stayed on the kitchen bench.
But a part of me was sad that she was missing out on this childhood rite of passage.
A visit from the Tooth Fairy is right up there with Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny.
"You were the same," my mother told me, when I sought her advice on this important matter. "Perhaps, she could write a letter to the Tooth Fairy."
So that's what we did.
The next day, after checking that the tooth was still there, Miss Five composed a letter to the Tooth Fairy. It was short and to the point:
"Dear Tooth Fairy,
Please don't take my tooth away.
Love from Miss Five."
That evening, in the dark of night, $2 was slipped into the pocket of the Tooth Fairy pillow, accompanied by a teeny, tiny note on pearlescent pink paper, which was equally succinct:
"Dear Miss Five,
You can keep your tooth.
Love from the Tooth Fairy."
Ecstatic, Miss Five deposited the coin in her moneybox and filed the letter in her jewellery box.
And the tooth?
It has become the main event, earning her kudos amongst her young friends.
"Do you want to see my tooth?" she asks everyone who walks through the door.
I am surprised she's not charging them to see it.
