The Bandaid Fairy
by Peter "Grampy" Krause
When they were little, my kids
used to love bath time, and that was a favorite time for me to be with
them. They liked the warm water, the
gentle washcloth and the floating toys.
Being dried off was fun also, and we would sing a song I made up called
"Dipeys and Jammys". We all
loved the innocent, sensuous feelings and special closeness associated with
bath time. This was especially true with
my older daughter, until... one day...
Jaimie had a booboo on her leg
and we had put a bandaid on it. This
bandaid stayed on for over a week, because Jaimie wouldn't let us remove
it. Whenever we would try, she would
pull away. She was five years old and
she was smart, strong and clever; and there was no way she would sit still for
us to pull off that appendage. She
already knew that it would hurt, and nothing we said could change her
mind. But she trusted me, and so, during
her bath, when I was kneeling outside the tub, she let me put my hands near it
because she had secured my promise not to pull the bandaid off. But I did it anyway. Jaimie screamed and then she wouldn't talk to
me. Period. I had no excuse. As far as Jaimie was concerned, I had broken
my word, and was never to be trusted again.
Then, I had an idea.
When Jaimie woke up the next
morning, she had two dollar bills under her pillow and a note from the Bandaid
Fairy. The note explained how proud the
Fairy was that Jaimie was so brave about having the bandaid pulled off, and
that not all little girls or boys would have been so good and so smart about
the need to change the bandaid to let the booboo get better. The Fairy said she would be watching in the
future to see if Jaimie was just as brave when it came time to remove another
bandaid.
Jaimie was absolutely delighted
with this note and her gift. This was
her first "good fairy" experience, since she had not yet had occasion
to meet the Tooth Fairy. We never had a
problem with her bandaid removal after that.
She usually did it herself. And
each time, there would be a note from the Bandaid Fairy, written by mom or dad,
and usually accompanied by a dollar.
All good things, they say, must
come to an end, and there came a point when Jaimie was eight, that she received
her last visit from the Bandaid Fairy.
The Fairy left two dollars and a card (penned by my wife) saying how
proud she was that Jaimie was now a big girl and didn't need the Fairy any more
for the bandaids; but there were other little boys and girls who did. Even though she wouldn't be writing any more
notes or leaving any more gifts, the Bandaid Fairy would always keep an eye on
Jaimie in case Jaimie needed her.
Actually, the Bandaid Fairy did
make one more appearance in our house, for Jaimie's younger sister. Neither my wife nor I can figure out who did
it.
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| The author and the babe |
