the tooth fairy is rich...apparently

Landon lost his third tooth this morning while eating his breakfast. When he approached me, he told me that he had lost it, but he didn't know where it was or when it happened. He was clearly upset since he knows that no tooth = no money. I told him to look around his bed one last time before we headed out, thinking that he lost it sometime in his sleep. Nothing. A light bulb went off and thought he would check his plate. And, voila! Phew, that was close.  I didn't want his fourth day of school to start off on a bad note.  We bagged it up and now we wait for bed time to come. He is super excited! On the way out the door he was trying to work the calculations in his head (not sure how). He thought now that he's older he gets more money. His ballpark figure was around $1,000. WOW, that's a pretty special tooth!  I had to explain to him that he had to take what is given to him since there are a lot of other boys and girls losing teeth, too.  He seemed to be okay with that.  He has another tooth loose on the opposite side, next to the two middle teeth.  It will only be a matter of time before Mom and Dad have to take out a loan to keep up with this expensive tradition.  $1000 a tooth?  Could you imagine?  I think I would have to make up a sad story like..."I'm sorry Landon, but the Tooth Fairy got squished by an elephant at the Zoo."