While I do have three children, only two are currently in the tooth-losing phase of life. You know, the one where they require you to stick your fingers in their mouths and feel how wiggly those little suckers are. And then afterward, they require me to give them money for losing the teeth—as if they earned something for all of that darn time spent wiggling. Parenting really is all glitz and glamour, isn’t it?

Here’s the thing about my two tooth losers. One, upon losing her very first tooth at the tender age of six, declared to the world, “I don’t believe in the Tooth Fairy! I know that she doesn’t exist. Please fork over a crisp and clean five dollar bill so we can all get on with our lives and not have to play this silly under-the-pillow game. Also, I’d like to keep my tooth please and thanks.” My son, however, decided that he did believe. He believed so hard. (Also, for some reason, he decided that his Tooth Fairy’s name was Gwyneth. I won’t even begin to venture a guess as to where that came from.)

How does this happen exactly? How do I have two children who were born to the same parents, under the same roof, a mere 20 months apart, and yet the first child is an non-believer and the second child is a huge believer?

I have so many tooth-related questions: Do you have believers in your house? Do you have doubters? Do you have any “I’ll pretend to believe, just in case she’s real”ers? Do you keep the teeth? (Am I the only one who thinks a drawer full of old teeth is kind of gross?) Also, what’s the going rate for teeth at your place?

–Ali, Senior Associate Editor of CF.ca