from Hacker News

Tooth Fairy Index

by johnny313 on 7/8/22, 11:00 PM with 32 comments

• by silisili on 7/9/22, 8:14 AM

  I don't pay near that much. We gave ours a dollar per(2018 dollars), which she didn't much care about. So we switched to a small ice cream cone per, which she was much more excited about and about the same price. But she always has known mom was the tooth fairy.

  One of the few times in my life I've ever been in a fistfight was as a child over a lost tooth. A kid being a bit too rough in a backyard game knocked my already loose tooth out, and after stopping everything, I couldn't find it in the grass and went ballistic at the prospect of not getting a visit from the tooth fairy. Throwing kid punches while screaming about the tooth fairy.

  It's one of those cringe/embarrassing moments that pop up in your brain for the rest of your life.

  I'm pretty OK with the spirit of Santa Claus, but the idea of lying to kids about mythical creatures doesn't sit well with me, based on how fooled I felt later.

• by egypturnash on 7/9/22, 12:13 AM

  This makes me really wish the US had coins for small dollar values, finding a shiny coin under your pillow is so much more appealing than a wrinkly bill IMHO. Quarters aren't worth a damn thing any more and a cup of coffee is at least $5 now.

  I am also sitting at a desk decorated with a bunch of Mardi Gras doubloons because it makes me feel like I'm in the middle of a pirate's treasure so I may be biased.

• by russellbeattie on 7/9/22, 6:02 AM

  I screwed this up so bad. The first time my son lost a tooth, I put $5 under his pillow. But he was a squirmer and ended up pushing the bill down the back of the bed.

  He wakes me up the next morning, "The Tooth Fairy stole my tooth!!" I of course am completely confused, so I struggle out of bed and into his bedroom, see the bed in chaos, immediately realize what happened and go directly to where the bill would be. Apparently, in my sleepy state I didn't sell the performance of saying, "Oh, look! Here it is, silly!" He looked at me slyly and took the money. Later I learned that's when he knew the whole Fairy thing was bunk.

  Which is OK, really, I disliked lying to him like that. All those crazy imaginary characters - Santa, Easter Bunny, Jesus, Tooth Fairy, etc. - are just silly and guaranteed to cause tears, disappointment and a sense of betrayal. I only played along with the holidays so he wouldn't be the only kid who didn't get a visit from magic land.

• by cbsks on 7/9/22, 3:31 AM

  My siblings and I would get a quarter if we lost a tooth at our house, but once my sister lost a tooth at our aunt and uncle’s house and she got $20! The Easter bunny works in mysterious ways…

• by bookofjoe on 7/9/22, 1:53 AM

  I recall getting a dime in the 1950s and I was overjoyed.

  I gave my daughter a Kennedy half dollar in the late 1980s.

• by sgtnoodle on 7/10/22, 7:49 AM

  We're visiting my wife's family, and tonight my sister-in-law's front tooth broke completely off while biting into a tortilla chip. It would be pretty funny if the tooth fairy left something under her pillow. Hopefully her husband thinks of it, because I'm not sneaking into their bedroom at 2AM. I already witnessed her scream bloody murder once today!

• by ljhsiung on 7/8/22, 11:49 PM

  Little did I know I had been getting ripped off by my parents for years! $1 a tooth? I demand reparation.

• by autokad on 7/9/22, 12:17 AM

  last time I recall this index being brought up was during the financial crisis

• by dvh on 7/9/22, 9:52 AM

  Kids should start 3d printing teeth to offset the inflation

• by ourmandave on 7/9/22, 11:30 AM

  The realization anyone could sneak into your room, disturb you pillow, and not wake you up. D=

  (Also I miss being able to sleep that soundly through the night.)

• by deathanatos on 7/9/22, 4:07 PM

  Wow. By comparison, I got 50¢, and that's adjusted for inflation! (It was a quarter at the time.)