We all have magical memories of putting our baby teeth under our pillow and waking up to find money the next morning. Over the years the price of a baby tooth has gone up with inflation. In “the old days” we got a coin. Now no self-respecting Tooth Fairy would leave less than a crisp dollar bill. In “the old days” we wrapped up our collaterol in a kleenex that stuck to the spots that were still wet. The Tooth Fairy has gone commercial these days. You can buy a pretty little embroidered tooth purse for little princesses or tooth cases with action heros for the rough and tumble crew.
All that led up to putting the tooth under the pillow was part aof the entire tradition. The tooth started wiggling just a little. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle while you’re in class. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle while you’re in the car. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle while you’re watching TV. Sometimes the tooth co-operated and it came out easily. Other times everybody would joke about tying one end of a string around the tooth and the other end around a doorknob. The tricky part is tying the string to a slippery “still in the mouth” tooth.
We all know the routine, right? Put a tooth under your pillow at bedtime, wake up the next morning and take the dough. We all know that a tooth without fillings is worth more than a tooth with fillings, right?
There are lots of children’s books about the Tooth Fairy; lovely bedtime cuddle and reads. Recently a friend told me about a comic strip she read where the Tooth Fairy left cholesterol medication instead of money.
What’s wrong with this picture? It’s funny but it’s not.
According to the Bucks County Courier Times July 8, 2008, “. . .the American Academy of Pediatrics Monday issued new guidelines calling for routine cholesterol screening for children under age 10, and more aggressive use of cholesterol-lowering drugs in some children as young as age 8. ” Yikes!
Let’s see if we can put this is perspective. American children watch on average 3 hours of TV a day. Yikes! 31% of American children are overweight or at risk of obesity. Yikes! Do you think there might be a connection between the two?
School age children typically bring 99% of their lunch in the form of packaged foods. What % of trans fats are in those foods? I think I read somewhere that trans fats have some relationship with cholesterol levels. Do you think there might be a connection between the two?
Back to the Tooth Fairy. Image One: The child wakes up, hair all dis-sheveled, rubbing the “sleepy dirt” from their eyes. They flip over the pillow, find the money and go running down the steps to tell everyone, “The Tooth Fairy came!” Image Two: The child wakes up and flips over the pillow. Finding their cholesterol pill he plods down the hallway to take his medication. Image One: Personification of American Tradition. Image Two: a sad commentary on the state of the American diet.
Bobbie Burkhart
Holistic Health Counselor
www.bevitalwithbobbie.com