Tooth Fairy VS El Raton (the mouse)

VS

Josiah got his teeth pretty late in life. His first tooth cut through right after he turned one. From the moment that he found out about loosing teeth he wanted to loose a tooth. He had his first dentist visit when he was almost 3. He asked Dr Epperson when he would start loosing his teeth. Dr Epperson was great about explaining that it wouldn't be for a long time especially since his teeth didn't come in until late. I am pretty sure that by the time we got to the car he was back to asking "when will my teeth fall out?" He is always telling me that he has a loose tooth. I usually feel and then inform him that it is not loose yet. Today as we were walking out of the movies he had his finger in his mouth. I asked what he was doing and he said playing with his loose tooth. So, I felt and it was moving!! The time has finally arrived - lets just hope it doesn't take weeks for it to actually fall out.

Tonight when I was putting him to bed he was explaining exactly what he is going to do when the tooth falls out. His plan is to put the tooth under his pillow and then in the night time the mouse will come get the tooth and leave him money. Yes, in Mexico it is not the tooth fairy that comes but a mouse! When you live in a foreign country you learn a lot about our customs. I always assumed that the tooth fairy was universal but she isn't. In Asian countries you throw the tooth on the roof (if it was an upper tooth) and bury it under the house (if it was a lower tooth). For more interesting tooth customs here is a fun website.

http://www.toothfairys.net/aroundtheworld.htm

Back to Josiah and my converstation. I asked him how much money he though the mouse would leave. We finally agreed on 20 pesos (A little less than $2 but it is the smallest bill). He quickly decided that he would rather have the tooth fairy come because she could give him dollars and he could buy a skateboard in the states this summer! Pretty smart to know that Pesos are for here and Dollars for the States. He then asked me how many dollars would the toothfairy leave. I quickly looked at Cory, he thought $1 was good, I told him that she wasn't that cheap. I then commented that she will probably just have to leave the smallest bill she has because there aren't many dollars in her house only pesos. I better start digging around the house for some small bills. Its kinda fun that Josiah gets to be a part of two cultures. The Easter bunny doesn't come to Mexico but he makes a special stop at our house! Another advantage is that here there is a Kids day - you know like Mothers day, Fathers day - why not Kids Day.

So I am curious how much does the tooth fairy leave at your house? I would love to hear about it.