When you have young children, you become a believer in all things make believe like you did when you were younger.  It is a Child’s belief in fairies that make fairies real to everyone. Mermaids, unicorns, fairies…are all part of a happy childhood.

My daughter Zooey recently had a visit from the tooth fairy and we’ve had many discussions about how fairies look, sound, and smell.

With very serious thinking, my daughter has decided she will be a tooth fairy when she grows up. Zooey was in tears the night she told me of her future job and said, “Oh Mommy, I’m going to miss you so much because tooth fairies don’t live at home, they live in castles.” To calm my emotional little girl down I agreed to be a tooth fairy with her!

According to Zooey a tooth fairy looks like Tinkerbell, sounds like whispers and wind, lives in a beautiful pink castle in the sky, and smells like cinnamon.

When I think of fairies, Peter Pan’s Tinkerbell is the first to come to mind, Abby Caddaby from Sesame Street is another fairy we are very familiar with, and my favorite ballet (Giselle) has many fairies in the magical romantic forest and mountain regions known as the Rhineland where the Wilies dance from midnight until four o’clock in the morning. I would imagine the Rhineland to be like Pixie Hollow and the Wilies to be the most beauiful of fairies.

Fairies bring joy, magic, and laughter whenever you think of them. Like butterflies… fairies are light, whimsical, and beautiful to look at; lathered in pixie dust- they are full of magic. To touch a butterfly is like being kissed by a fairy and if you’re lucky enough, they will leave some of their pixie dust from their beautiful wings with you. Anything related to the touch of fairies and butterflies is laced with magic.

One of my second grade students, Emma, has a wonderful grandmother who knows of a special tree that fairies like to play in. They leave Emma little fairy treasures as small as her thumb for her to play with like a tiny journal with her name, a little fairy broom, and the smallest hair brush you’ve ever seen. Emma is very proud of her fairy treasures and she made other children believers when she shared them.

After all, don’t we know that all the best things in life are invisible? Magic happens everyday-sometimes we just have to think of the right thing and be willing to believe in order to “see” it. Though they may not last forever, dreams do come true… Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo!

Photos: One of my daughter’s favorite things to play with, “My Fairy Sandbox” and a wonderful book to read when you lose a tooth, “My Tooth Fairy Tale.”