Fairies live in our backyard. I'm sure of it. I have not seen one, but I have it on good authority that they are in fact back there. Six excited 9 and 10-year-old girls told me about them.
This past weekend I experienced the joy of the pre-adolescent girl slumber party. My baby girl turned 10. I can't believe it. We teased her all week with "I can't believe my baby is 8." She'd reply "I'm not 8 mom, I'm 10." Only to be annoyed with me later when I said "It seems like just yesterday you were born and now you're 9." Followed by "I'm not 9 mom, I'm 10." Eventually we broke down and admitted to her that she was in fact 10. We even put 10 candles on her cookie cake. But it really doesn't seem like it. It seems like she was just a baby in the sling -- attached to me at every moment. But it also feels like she's always been in my life. I can't imagine it without her.
Which brings us to fairies. It's all about fairies now. She made a fairy house and put it in the back yard last fall. She would leave little treats for the fairies and they would take her treats and leave her little notes. They even left her a little bracelet made of tiny little stones for Christmas. She wears it every day. But until Saturday night, they eluded her when she tried to find them. It took a gang of giggling, pajama-clad girls armed with neon glow sticks to finally uncover the fairies so she could see them with her own eyes.
The squeals of delight were heard all through the neighborhood as first one, then two, then three or four of the winged sprites revealed themselves to the girls. I know it was a night that none of them will forget. Before long, grown-ups will try to tell them that they did not see fairies, but perhaps a moth, a dragon fly, or a grasshopper. Eventually, they may start to believe the naysayers. Eventually they may come to believe that there are not fairies living in our backyard. But, I for one, am hoping that at least my little girl will continue to believe in what she saw.
Dear Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this..and I do believe! As Einstein said, "If you want smart children, tell them to imagine. If you want them to be even smarter, tell them to imagine more."
Sending sunshine and faery magic,
Susanne