A post which is NOT about glowy cracktastic Twangel.

[deird_lj]

My colleagues and I discovered something fascinating today.


(Some Background:
In Australia, we have no snow at Christmas. It's HOT. And yet we still have snowy Christmas cards, sing Jingle Bells, and dress up as Santa Claus in big warm suits.
It's that kind of cognitive dissonance going on here.)


Our Discovery:
Our office is half born-and-bred Aussies, and half overseas imports. And this morning, we discovered the following:

- People from overseas, when they lose teeth (as kids) all agreed that you put the tooth under your pillow, and wake up the next morning to discover money under there instead.

- People from Australia agreed that this under-the-pillow thing is exactly what happens - in storybooks. In real life, though, we all agreed that you put the tooth in a glass of water in the kitchen, and wake up the next morning to find money there instead.


*finds this fascinating*

Comments

[me-llamo-nic.livejournal.com]

I wonder if that's an Ausssie-exclusive thing or if there are other cultures that practice that too.

Also, your icon is amazing.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

We always did the under-the-pillow thing, but I remember having friends who left theirs in a glass of water. Of course, I grew up in the military, so I was surrounded by people from all over (including families where one of the parents, usually the mom, was originally from another country).

Personally, I think the glass of water in the kitchen makes a WHOLE lot more sense. You're a lot less likely to lose track of the tooth and you don't have to worry about trying to sneak money under the pillow without waking the child.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Huh. So, these stories. Are they only stories from overseas? Or do they put them under the pillow in Aussie stories, too? That would be strange.

Yeah, it was always under the pillow for us.

[swellen.livejournal.com]

I used to put mine in a glass of water beside my bed. Never in the kitchen. I've never heard of anyone leaving it there, although from a parental-tooth-swapping point of view it makes sense.

[jl-in-the-lane.livejournal.com]

THE GLASS OF WATER GOES NEXT TO YOUR BED.

HOW IS THE TOOTH FAIRY MEANT TO GET THE TOOTH SIGNAL IN THE KITCHEN?

ONE MIGHT AS WELL SUGGEST HANGING YOUR CHRISTMAS STOCKING ON THE FRIDGE.

[immer-am-lesen.livejournal.com]

Wrapped in a tissue, under the pillow!
I must be European.
:-p

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

Under the pillow! But, yeah, American. (Florida!)

[ib-stormcaller.livejournal.com]

No Poll?

I say under the pillow... but grew up in the UK... well based there anyway.

[elisi]

A glass of water??? Doesn't the Toohfairy *drown*?

[riccadonna.livejournal.com]

Only teeth that got put in a glass of water are dentures...

[silver_galaxy]

I had a special decorated box to put the tooth in, and the money would then be placed in the box. And I'm Aussie :)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Why on Earth did there need to be water in the glass? Do Aussie teeth get thirsty?

Ours always went under the pillow. Apart from the ones that go eaten, of course - then there was an IOU put under the pillow instead...

D-d had a wee pillow with a pocket in it, specially, after the first few teeth - same idea as the little tooth fairy boxes.

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

When I was little, not only did the tooth get wrapped in a tissue and placed under the pillow, but it got sprinkled with salt as well. Haven't a clue why - perhaps I'll remember to ask my mum.

My kids tend to wrap in tissue and leave on the bedside table (the older one went through a phase of writing little notes with a series of questions that had to be answered by the tooth fairy as well). I'd much prefer it if the younger one could use a glass of water in the kitchen though, she's such a light sleeper and swapping the tooth for 50p (we're mean tooth fairies *g*) is fraught with danger.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Bah. Aussie wimps. The pillow's a serious CHALLENGE for yer parents to try to make the switch! :P

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

Whaaaa...?

STRANGENESS.

Not quite to the wank level of itsy-bitsy-spider, though. :D