Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Room Fairy

My mom just sent this to me via e-mail. I had forgotten all about it. It's something I did for Kate when she was younger and struggling to keep her room clean. Unsurprisingly, not that much has changed! Hope you enjoy it and don't think I'm a complete loon! (Or at least, I hope you enjoy it, decide I am a complete loon, but figure I'm harmless enough.)



Dear Kate,

Today you have been visited by the room fairy. Actually, I am the very same room fairy that use to visit your mom when she was growing up in Pittsburgh. Somehow I always knew that she would one day need my help again. Because you are loved, your room has been cleaned from top to bottom by me, Room Fairy No.8: Specialist in the Servicing and Organizing of Artistic Stuff and Milky Pens.

A visit from a Room Fairy is a rare and wonderful thing and you should never assume that I will visit often. Some girls live their whole lives without ever having an encounter with a Room Fairy all their own. Ask your friends. I bet some of them have never heard of us.

If you are familiar with the story of Cinderella you will remember that she had to be home by midnight or the spell would be broken. Since Fairy Godmothers and Room Fairies operate in a very similar way, there are now some rules about your room. We find that having some guidelines makes things easier for everyone involved.

Rule No.1: Since Claire is only 4 years old she is not old enough to have a Room Fairy too. I will only be checking on your part of the room you share and will surely understand that she may sometimes make things messy. But Room Fairies are very clever and I will always be able to tell if you have been doing your part to keep things tidy.

Rule No.2: You will not leave clothes on the floor or cram them into the dresser drawers. The items that need to be hung up will be hung up securely on hangers. I have spoken with your mother and she will help you decide where your clothes should go and make sure that you have enough hangers.

Rule No.3: While it is true that Fairies in general are a friendly people, there are times that we have our disagreements. Currently we are working on improving our relationship with the Laundry Fairies. Putting clean clothes down the laundry chute will certainly make them angry and they will, no doubt, blame us for the extra work. Please, in an effort to preserve the peace, think twice before you toss.

Rule No.4: Your bed will be made neatly each morning and decorated as you see fit. Making a bed includes pulling up all of the bedding (sheets included) and keeping the linens from dragging on the floor. Some children think that this is an easy rule to bend, but be sure, we are very serious about it and will check under the covers.

Rule No.5: Your room will be generally tidy. This means that parents will not feel the urge to scream when they enter your room and no one will trip and break their neck should they make a surprise visit to your room.

I am a very busy Room Fairy and normally I would not be able to check on your progress each and every day. But since I was so very fond of your mother and because I know that you have a good heart and a quick mind, I will make a point of stopping in each school day around noon to see how you are doing. I tend to go to glamorous, all-night parties on the weekend and I do not check into the Room Fairy Office unless there is a very serious emergency. I will leave the details about your room to your mom and dad on the weekends. If I feel that you are living up to your end of the bargain I will leave my calling card with you. Oh my, I forget that children these days probably don’t know what a calling card is. Fairies live for so long and usually have trouble leaving our old-fashioned ways behind us. A calling card was something like a business card that your dad may have in his wallet. When someone wanted to visit a friend or neighbor, they would present the maid or butler with their calling card and it would be taken to the lady of the house. If she was able to see them at that time she would have them invited in and the visit would begin. I think it’s a lovely tradition, but people just don’t seem to do it anymore. Anyhow, if I feel that you have done a good job, I will leave my card with you in this envelope which you make keep on your door. Don’t be surprised if I am picky. I have heard wonderful things about you and I expect wonderful things from you. See, I know you can do it.

When you have collected ten of my calling cards you may return them to me (in the envelope) and I will let you know what your reward will be. I will have to speak with your mother from time to time and make sure that what I have planned will be ok with her. We fairies are not very practical and I wouldn’t want to put her in an awkward position. Sometimes you may receive a little surprise right away and sometimes you may receive instructions about your reward. Please remember that Fairies cannot carry a lot and we do not use Big People money so the rewards will always be very special because they come from a Fairy, but they will not always be fancy.

If you think that this is an arrangement that you could live with, please complete the enclosed form and leave it in this envelope for me to see tomorrow. You have my word that I will do all I can to work with you in this very exciting adventure of having a special room for yourself. I have gone over these plans with your mom and she can answer any questions you may have. I’m sorry that this is such a long document, but with the unfortunate rise in Lawyer Fairies, we can never be too careful and find it best to straighten things out at the very beginning.

Have a wonderful evening and enjoy your clean room. It really is quite lovely; I like what you’ve done with it.

Magically Yours,
Room Fairy No.8: Specialist in the Servicing and Organizing of Artistic Stuff and Milky Pens.

Room Fairy Registration and Contract

Name ____________________________________________________

Age________Boy or Girl (Please circle one)

Location of Bedroom (Example: first floor, back of house)


Do you share a room? Y_____N_____

Name of Room Mate__________________________________________________

Age of Room Mate________ Boy or Girl (please circle one)

Would you like your Room Mate to receive a letter of
explanation about our services? Y_____N________

Mother’s name_____________________________________

Father’s name______________________________________

Name of brothers or sisters and ages_______________________________


Please answer the following questions.

The thing I like best about my room________________________________________

The thing I like least about my room__________________________________________

I find this the hardest thing about cleaning my room _____________________________

Please circle the number that tells how you feel about the Room Fairy service with 1 being “bad” and 10 being “great”.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I, ________________________________, promise to do my very best to work with my

Room Fairy to make my room a special place to play, work, rest and dream.

_________________________________________________________
Name

____________________
Date



Hmmmm...if only there were a Checkbook Fairy!!

3 comments:

kat's mosaic'd world said...

I JUST LOVE THIS IDEA????? HOW COME I NEVER HEARD OF THE ROOM FAIRY BEFORE THIS???? I JUST MIGHT HAVE TO COPY TIS IDEA AND SHARE IT WITH MY FRIENDS,...........

Prettybird said...

Go ahead and copy what you want. The fee is very reasonable...hee hee.

miss you,
r

Sue said...

Oh what a gorgeous little idea. I will have to wait until Isabelle can read before I do that. Pity they dont have any room fairies for 12 yr old boys. I wouldnt have to deal with dirty clothes under the bed and rubbish on the floor. I hope it works for you.