on being a faerie god mother

  Much-loved friends of mine have cordially requested that I become their new baby's faerie god mother.  As I am already "Aunt Jenn" to four wonderful kids, I do not take my duties lightly.  Aunting is a wonderful task to accomplish.  The first great benefit is the hugs.  The second is playing with children; there is nothing quite so satisfying as shedding the adult years and playing with abandon.  The third benefit is the books; for as an aunt it is my responsibility to read the books I send them beforehand, just to make sure the writing is as delicious as they deserve. 

  Faerie god mothering isn't aunting, though, and that does give me a few nervous butterflies.  I don't remember knowing how to be an aunt when my brother's first child was born, and it did come easily.  Faerie god mothering is different, though, as an aunt the child shares your blood; there's a good chance of a lot of qualities in common.  The faerie god child is a child that, through great affection, is grafted onto your family tree to be beloved without those guarantees.  I have aunts of my own, and they offered up role models for my aunting pursuits.  I have no faerie god mother (or do I?).  I don't even know any faerie god mothers.  So how exactly does one be a proper faerie god mother?

  If you're thinking 'well glass slippers and bibbidi bobbidi boos, of course' then I have considered this.  I suspect that this particular element of faerie god mothering will be amiss should the little one be a boy, and glass slippers seem rather dangerous for a small girl.  We must also consider the decided lack of originality therein.  I'd love to offer up three wishes, but I'd hate to disappoint if they are beyond my grasp to fulfill.  No, there is no clear route to proper faerie god mothering.

  I am quite studiously working on it.  I have consulted faerie tales, my copy of An Encyclopedia of Fairies (Katharine Briggs), Peter Pan (J. M. Barrie), and even my own writings.  This is what I have come up with so far:

Aunt Jenn's Notes on How to be a Faerie God Mother

  1.  most certainly, definitely, a faerie god mother must bring a bit of magic to the faerie god child's life.  This particular brand of magic will depend upon the needs of the faerie god child, and the abilities of the faerie god mother herself.

  2.  the faerie god mother should bring fantasy to life (I have already uncovered plans for a DIY pirate ship should I need it).

  3.  The most important responsibility the faerie god mother has to the faerie god child is to the cultivation of their imagination.  This is not a responsibility to be taken lightly; it is a vital part of the faerie god child's early education.  A carefully tended imagination has the potential to change the world.

...

  This is what I have determined thus far.  I suspect there will be more clues I pick up along the way.  My faerie god child is due to enter this world at the end of summer/beginning of autumn; I have some time just yet.  Perhaps I might even come across another faerie god mother along the way!