Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Fairy on the Roof?

My daughter Soleine has lost her second baby tooth. She actually wiggled it for so long that it fell out. When this happens in my country, and in many others as well, the tooth fairy will pass by, leaving a coin or some small change. In France, it is a little mouse that brings the coin (la petite souris) - same idea.

In Madagascar they throw their baby teeth on the roof,
while making a wish, something like: "old tooth, go away, and bless this child with healthy teeth"! Nobody seems to know why the roof is the best place for old teeth to be buried but anyway.

Always a fan of local customs, I explain this to my daughter. "But mama, how is the fairy going to go on the roof?", she asked, with coin signs in her eyes. Well, I did not think that was the problem, even a little mouse can climb on a roof, my problem was how are we going to get up to look for the coin? Because there has to be coin.

Too complicated, so I stuck to the little mouse story. Indeed, he brought a lovely, shiny 50 Ariary coin with two big baobabs on it (value: 2 cents).

This morning when Soleine was in school, my housekeeper and I secretly tossed the tiny tooth on our roof. Soleine must not find out that there was no little mouse, that we 'cheated' on her. A good thing she can not read this blog. Please don't tell her...

3 comments:

  1. How many nights between now and then, will she carry the visions of our own path into myths of magic and delight?
    Our arms ar not big enough to hold them back in the race we are running
    Our eyes will not hold back the lights of laughter, light and love as we skip between the fairy rains that dusted us with the powers of dreams living among the greater imagination.
    Thank you, for returning me safely to my own search, this morning.
    I hope all is well in your world.

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  2. Hello, I am Javi from Spain. Superb blog, 10. Javi from Spain and I also I have a blog that is www.javiervg12.blogspot.com
    Hope you goals and you like. A greeting from Javi

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  3. I read a book about teeth-customs all over the world once. In many countries they believe you should bury an old tooth from your upper jaw under your house (so the new tooth can grow towards it) and indeed throw the old tooth from below on the roof (again so that the new tooth will grow straight into the right direction).

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