When that first, wobbly tooth finally frees itself from a child’s mouth, you can almost hear the distant sound of small trumpets being played by fairies, ready to welcome another shiny, tiny gnasher into their kingdom.
So woe betide any of the Tooth Fairy’s official assistants (that’s YOU!) who forget to collect the pristine pearly whites in exchange for some gold (coin, that is).
If you’ve ever known the panic of scrambling to find an excuse when the Tooth Fairy has missed a house call, you’ll appreciate our Guilty Parent’s Guide to Excuses for a Forgotten Tooth Fairy. Thanks to our amazing Mum’s Grapevine community for sharing these tips!
Fairy no-go zone!
This is probably the most common excuse that the Tooth Fairy couldn’t do her duty – she simply couldn’t find her way through a messy room!
“My son refused to clean his room so I wrote out a letter as the Tooth Fairy saying ‘can’t get to your bed. Need to clean room’. It was a win win situation.” – Amanda Sue Briggs
“Used the excuse that her room was too messy and the Tooth Fairy didn’t want to get lost in the mess. Room clean, alarm set and the Tooth Fairy came.” – Alison Cox
Blame it on the rain (or wind or snow)
Because everyone knows that fairies can’t fly when it’s raining or windy, right?
“Managed to forget two nights running. Tooth Fairy wrote a note apologising because she got stuck in a snow storm down south. I felt horrible but she loved the note.” – Sara Bates
“Her wings are solar charged, so if there’s not been enough sun she cant get to everyone.” – Brigette Wagner
Let’s play hide and seek
Because there’s nothing in the official Tooth Fairy Handbook that says the money has to be left in a child’s bedroom.
“Ended up hiding the money on the soap holder in the shower and insisting a shower be had. Amazing how often he now wants a shower … just in case.” – Kylie Donovan
“While the kids were searching through their blankets, I was checking under the bed and ‘oh look kids, it must have fallen on the floor under your bed’.” – Marie Barnes
Brusha, brusha, brusha!
No Tooth Fairy worth her wings will collect teeth that aren’t brushed!
“Recovered by saying Tooth Fairy didn’t take it cause you didn’t clean you teeth before bed. So brush up and she will check tomorrow.” – Kylie Keane
Time management troubles
Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
“Had to quickly write a note, sneak into their room, tell them that she was really busy and must have been running late and then got him to go and check again … phew disaster averted!” – Melinda Redman
“Just tell them that she had so many to exchange last night that she ran out of time and money.” – Briony Burt
Shoddy scheduling
Keep the kids guessing as to which day the Tooth Fairy will appear – a very clever idea!
“She never comes on the first night, it can take one to five nights. Like to make it a bit unpredictable for the kids.” – Andrea Allamby
“Apparently he only comes certain nights of the week. We haven’t worked out what particular nights it is yet. But if you lose them early in the morning it is plenty of time, but not enough notice just before bed.” – Kim Winfield
“Lucky it was a public holiday and even the Tooth Fairy has a day off for that.” – Kellie Barnard
Logistical nightmare
Fairies may be magical, but closed windows are a tough ask!
“We did this once and said it must have been because we forgot to leave the window open for her. Now my daughter won’t sleep with the window closed if she has the slightest wobbly tooth!” – Joanne Bellamy
Sleep debt
The Tooth Fairy won’t be coughing up any cash while kiddies are wide awake. This is called a win-win situation.
“You didn’t go to bed early enough, must have missed her, better go to bed earlier tonight.” – Kristy Webber
When all else fails, blame it on alcohol
This excuse takes the cake for creativity.
“My mother in law forgot once when the kids slept over. When the kids asked she blurted, ‘think the tooth fairy might be a bit hung over from last night.’ Tooth Fairy got to us just after lunchtime.” – Mai Bracht
If you want to be super organised the next time your little one loses a tooth, here are 12 magical tooth fairy ideas.
Join the conversation
Jump over to our Facebook page and join the conversation other mums are having about what to say if you forgot the tooth fairy here. Enjoy xx
