Yesterday, after watching a Tinkerbell movie, Erin came upstairs and announced that she was going to build a fairy house. She was a little upset because apparently Jeffrey was making fun of her by saying "fairies aren't real." I could tell it was really bothering her so I encouraged the construction of the fairy house.
She got an old box to start. Then she decorated it with a bed made of sticks and a bedspread cut from some extra cloth. Then a table and tablecloth of the same materials. She drew a clock on the wall. She very much wanted to put real food inside, but for fear of ants or other critters I encouraged her to use Poly Pocket food. She made little pillows from cotton balls and sprayed them with body mist to make them smell just right. Finally she put a bowl for water (but no real water) and some flowers inside the box.
She set the box outside, off the back deck. She found a stick and drove it into the ground. She asked me to write "Fairies Welcome" on a flag for the stick. The fairy house was set.
Brother wasn't done making fun of her, but she didn't let it get to her. Every 10 minutes she was checking to see if a fairy was there yet. After an hour or so she switched out the food and flowers because "maybe a fairy would like this better." She got more and more frustrated as the afternoon wore on. Maybe a fairy was not going to arrive. Maybe fairies aren't real. Maybe the fairy is shy, I explained. Maybe the fairies are waiting for it to cool off.
Finally she noticed that something had moved inside the house. Something had shifted. That was enough. There was a fairy!! She was just shy. Throughout the evening Erin kept changing out the food and flowers. Happily humming along.
No comments:
Post a Comment