The Magic of Childhood

Although I’m always candid about the tougher parts of parenting on the blog (Honest Mum, right), I love to share the more joyful moments too, of which there are many, because childhood should and so often is, pretty magical is it not?… And this post certainly demonstrates that so read on but be prepared it’s a bit of a heart-melter.

Whilst parenting is, no doubt been the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced, it’s also been the most life-affirming and wondrous thing in the world for me, and lately life has definitely less Horrid Henry and more Bedknobs and Broomsticks!

On Monday, Oliver, 6, came home from school brandishing a white envelope which housed one of his tiny teeth. The tooth had fallen out during break time as he chomped on an apple and although he said he’d cried a little, he stopped when he remembered that tooth fairy and some wonga would await him in the morning.

Clever kid.

That night, as Oliver got ready for bed, he told my husband Peter and I to write some questions down on the envelope for the tooth fairy so he could find out more about her .  Peter wrote, ‘What is your name?’ and ‘How old are you?’.

Placing it under his pillow, he literally fell asleep with the biggest grin on his adorable face.

Struggling for tooth fairy names, Peter and I quickly headed online, discovering a site which auto generates tooth fairy names (Google, we love you)- and Berry Starnest was born!

Writing in his left hand (as our kid does not miss a beat), Peter answered Oliver’s questions on the envelope with the tooth fairy’s name and a cheeky, ‘very, very, very old’ answer to how old she is. We popped 50 p into the envelope and removed the tooth for safe keeping!

At 7 am Oliver burst into our bedroom with a torch no less, envelope in hand, shouting with excitement, ‘She’s been, she’s been’, before asking us if Berry Starnest was a boy or a girl. Now there’s a question we weren’t prepared for. We said both male and female tooth fairies exist but this seemed to be a girl. A very, very, very old girl!

Oliver then read out Berry Starnest’s answers to us both, filled with complete and utter joy, bursting with the magic of childhood. That precious innocence all children deserve to experience.

Later, he cut around the envelope and drew a picture of a tractor under the words (as you do), proudly sticking it on to the fridge.

Here he is, the main man, this morning, sharing his letter from Berry for you all! Bless!

Just the cutest thing!

I know that before long, he’ll be told by older children that the tooth fairy doesn’t exist…and the magic, that suspension of disbelief will no doubt fade away…the same with Elf and Santa Claus. We’ll be interrogated on why we (white) lied to him as a child as my brother and I did with my own parents…but I remember that feeling, that sheer magic of believing of having faith in fairies and Father Christmas and it’s so fleeting and precious; something to be treasured for as long as possible hey?

I’ll always be glad my kids believed in fairies, even for a short while.

As parents we re-live our childhood vicariously through our kids and when the world can so often feel quite scary, we, as much as they, need magic more than ever.

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