The lil Fairy Door has become something our children look forward to seeing every day. I knew there were many ways to use the door, and at first I considered using it for the tooth fairy. My kids are 2, 4 and 6 years old so we are just starting to have loose teeth in the house. I quickly changed my mind, thinking I wanted to use it on more of a daily basis. My next idea for the door was to put it in the bathroom next to the toothbrushes. I thought this would help give them the extra nudge to always brush their teeth. However, on the day I actually installed the door the kids were particularly wild, and that’s when I knew I was going to use the door for good behavior!
On days the kids are especially good, the fairy will come that night and leave gifts by the door. One day the gift was a quarter, another time the fairy left a small toy from the Target dollar bin. (My daughter realized that, but it was okay, she knows everyone loves to shop at Target!)
The kids started leaving our fairy thank-you notes and pictures. The excitement of getting to the door first was an added benefit. My daughter never wants to get up out of bed for school, but if i say, “Your brothers aren’t up yet. Don’t you want to go to the fairy door first?” she literally throws the covers off and runs down to the door.
The days the kids aren’t so well behaved the fairy leaves tiny notes telling them to try harder and she will be back the next day. It has really been fun for the whole family. On some nights we use the footprints stencil by laying it flat and adding glitter. The kids really loved this! They could tell just how tiny she was by her small footprints.
The kids were also excited to see that the fairy “decorated” her door with green grass, butterflies, tiny patio furniture and very small pots One day the fairy left a tiny bird’s nest, and the next day there were tiny eggs inside the nest! The next day nothing…and they were kind of confused, but I told them even magical fairy eggs take time. The following day there were tiny birds in the nest. They were so excited–this kept them talking for days! (The decorations for the door were all bought at Michael’s craft store.)
We love the lil Fairy Door and will continue to use it. The door did truly help with behavior. When the kids aren’t listening all I have to say is “Remember, the fairy is watching…you want her to come right?” That usually gets the behavior to change right away. We love everything about the door, and on a scale of 1 to 5, it is a 5!
You can purchase the lil Fairy Door for your home online at http://www.littlefairydoor.com/shop/. Our pink door retails for $36, however, there are so many options. You can pick the color of the door or even get a red door with a wreath for Christmas. This could even be an alternative to The Elf on the Shelf.
Amber Trumpower lives in Annapolis MD and is a stay-at-home mom to three awesome and wild kids ages 2, 4 and 6. Vist her blog at www.OfficiallyOutnumbered.com.
