Fairy Doors to Occupy the Imagination During Deployment

Readers, please welcome my friend and fellow USMC wife/blogger Amber aka Goodnight Moon.
A couple of weeks ago she posted a picture on instagram about a Fairy Door. I was instantly intrigued. Today, Amber is here to guest post and tell us the role Fairy Doors play in her family, especially during time of deployment.

Going through a deployment and missing your husband is hard, not to mention lonely. It’s hard to keep your head on straight most days. You feel like you live in a fog at times. But going through a deployment with little ones at home missing their daddy makes it even harder. Listening to your children cry out for daddy throughout the day is very heartbreaking to watch as a mother. It pulls on our heart strings and breaks us down. It makes the days drag on, turning bedtime into melt down zone with the kids. Having to see your children hurt is something that no parent wants to experience, yet we have to live through it every day during a deployment.

I try and make the time daddy is gone, as painless as possible for my children. I am constantly reassuring them that daddy loves them and is always thinking of them. I also get creative with them and make them use their imagination while daddy is gone. It serves as a great distraction for all of us.

We have fairy doors in our house, three of them to be exact. Every time we PCS the fairy doors come with us. Once we are settled into our new home, the fairies work their magic and place their doors into new spots in our house. Sometimes they can be found on the floor board by the front door, in the kitchen pantry, by their bed or over a window in one of their rooms. It’s something that gives them comfort every time we PCS and gives them something to look forward to….finding the fairy doors.

One of the fairy doors we have is a “mail door”, and it’s actually labeled as such. It’s perfect for deployments when daddy is gone. The kids write notes to daddy and leave them out by the fairy door. As they sleep, I collect their notes in a jar and mail them to daddy. Sometimes I leave little notes or drawings in return for them to find. It’s a wonderful distraction come bedtime when they are normally starting their nightly meltdown “missing daddy” cries. Instead, we talk about the fairy doors and wonder if there is any where daddy is? And what his fairy door must look like? My son always says that the fairies sprinkle magic all over daddy while he’s sleeping, so he can come home safe to us.

Fairies fall in the category of Santa in my book. Do they exist? Obviously not, but it gives the children something to believe in and lets them look forward to something. I think every child needs imagination in their lives….and so do adults.

Thank you, Amber! I love this idea and will definitely be introducing Fairy Doors to our family very soon.
You can read more from Amber at her blog, Goodnight Moon. I also recommend you visit her on Etsy at GoodnightMoon the Shop!