Where the Fairies live

by Lynne of Cozy Cottage Creations

As a parent raising young children (two girls, age 7 ½ and 5 ½ ) in today’s world, one of the notions I strongly believe in is to foster *magic* whenever possible. There’s plenty of time for facts and reality – they’ll want more of that when they’re ready, but for now at this point in my children’s lives – they want to know that magic can happen. I’m going to get on my soapbox for a moment and state that I think too many kids are robbed of their imaginations by the bombardment of images and media they’re not ready for. Not only is that media inappropriate for their age, but it’s also aggressively marketed to them. Materialism starts way too soon these days before kids have the ability to understand why they want what they want and perhaps there’s a choice that’s better for them, and if I may say, the planet as a whole. It’s a challenge to raise kids today that are *in* this world but not *of* it. One of the ways I try
my best to do this is by going to nature, where wonder and magic can be discovered all on their own.

So now I’ll step down from my soapbox and tell you about our trip! Sometime this fall, we journeyed up to Portsmouth NH for a tour of the Fairy Houses!

My daughter (the older one) is a great great believer in fairies and wants to see one so badly I think she practically willed this event to happen. She told me on the way up that she didn’t want anyone at all to tell her that these houses were made by people, so of course we honored her request.

According to her, at some time during the night, fairies descended upon the little place that time forgot, called Strawbery Banke. (If you are in the area and have never been, I urge you to go – it is so charming. Your thoughts of the world today will melt away and you’ll find yourself trying to mentally move yourself in to life in this village, at least I did!)

The next day, the fairy’s houses of all shapes and sizes were EVERYWHERE! All built from nature - all exquisite in their own special way.

Time played it's part in our magical day.

As we scurried around, it seemed to stop when we arrived at each fairies door, allowing us to breath in the magic and shrink ourselves down to imagine life inside.

I do think that was the shortest 6 hours I’ve ever spent! To see more about these houses, and their creation, visit this site.

When we got home, of course, my children made some houses for fairies of their own in the backyard. My daughter checks hers frequently to be sure the fairy who moved in is enjoying it. She told me recently that she’s going to write a book about her fairy that she hopes to have published. That put a big smile on my proud mommy face!

(stepping back onto soapbox...) It is my belief that when children believe so strongly that those homes were fairy-built and that belief cements itself inside their psyche and becomes part of the building blocks that form their world-view, they’ll grow up knowing that anything is possible. They’ll be able to think for themselves and think out of the box. They’ll be not only open to creative solutions but the creators of them. The magical notion that anything is possible, to me, is the birthplace of hope. And without hope, who can get invested in our future? Thanks for reading!