I LEARN, with regret, that the economic crisis is even having an adverse affect on that most elusive of creatures, the Tooth Fairy. The average return for a child s tooth tucked under the pillow is currently an average of �1.15 which is a whopping six per

I LEARN, with regret, that the economic crisis is even having an adverse affect on that most elusive of creatures, the Tooth Fairy.

The average return for a child's tooth tucked under the pillow is currently an average of �1.15 which is a whopping six per cent decrease in what was being left a year ago.

This financial downturn must be hard for a child to take, particularly as the little charmer is already suffering the trauma of losing a molar.

But the tooth market showing signs of decay is being used to learn a lesson in life (mot the one that it is likely we will all lose our tegs eventually and end up with dentures).

Parents, it seems, are grasping the opportunity to teach their children, as the rate of exchange fluctuates, to understand the value of money.

And the kids are taking it on board. Over half of them in the UK are saving some or all the money the Tooth Fairy is leaving.

There are regional variations in the largesse of the cash fairy. In Northern Ireland, the average left for a tooth is �1.44 with more than one in 10 children getting �5 or more each time.

The unluckiest kids are those in the Midlands where the average "take" for a tooth is a miserable �1.01 - and 12 per cent of youngsters there have a gap in their purses as well as their mouths as they are forgotten by the Tooth Fairy altogether.

Traditionally, the fairy has been known to leave money, of course, and perhaps a letter and a sprinkling of fairy dust on her nightly visits.

Some parents may recall also received an orange, toy or a book as a special treat from the mystery caller.

The fairy is keeping up with the times, now perhaps also leaving mobile phone credits and magazines with the money.

My days of easing out a milk tooth and putting it under the pillow to see what it is replaced with the following morning are long gone.

The personal tooth bank is somewhat depleted now and I don't think I would have the gall to ask the dentist to hand me the latest extraction rather than throw it in the bin. Mind you, if the price goes up I may reconsider that.

I know the plight of battery hens is awful and if I had my way they would all be free range, but I had to laugh when I received a press release this week.

It told of 16 hens which had been rescued from a battery farm by an organisation which cares for such unfortunate birds many of which arrive in a poor state having lost their feathers through stress and the conditions they have been kept in.

The good folk of the organisation are appealing for the public to help out by knitting jumpers to keep the birds warm "as life outdoors can be a bit cold". They even offer a knitting pattern on their website.

Is that a bird-brained idea? I leave that for you to decide.

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