The story-teller fairy

Doll in the window

2007-09-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

Anna was not one of those chubby little dolls with blond curls and blue eyes that little girls love to have.
Her hair was brown, her eyes were brown, her lips didn’t smile and she was rather thin. She had been in the window of “Fantastic Toys” shop for too long. It wasn’t very nice in the window. Usually it was extremely hot, as the sunrays fell on the window during the largest part of the day. Not to mention everyone staring at the toys, so that they couldn’t have a single private moment.
Each time someone decided to buy Anna, it wasn’t very long until they brought her back.

First, it was this weird family that wanted Anna as decoration for the doghouse. Anna had a hard time there. She couldn’t stand the smell and the dog seemed to be frightened of her. So, she started to feel bored. She tried once or twice to start a conversation with the dog, but he ran away, terrified.
They brought her back to the shop and asked for their money back. They said something was really wrong with that doll; there was something weird and scary about her. As the family was a very good customer of “Fantastic Toys”, Patrick, the owner took her back. He cleaned her dress; he combed her hair and put her again in the window.

Then, a little girl came along with her father. He was carrying tens and tens of toys for her daughter already but she had seen Anna in the window and she just had to have her, because Anna looked so unusual. Daddy, who has just divorced the little girl’s mother would do anything her daughter asked him to, so Anna was put again in a box and traveled to her new home.
At first everything was fine except for the little girl combing Anna all day long. A few days later the little girl started to ask Anna to say “mommy” and do “pipi” again and again, because all the other dolls she had they could do such things. Anna of course was not made for doing things like these and stayed silent. After the 98th time the little had asked Anna to say “mommy” with no success, she slapped the doll in her face. Anna bit the little girl’s hand with anger. That was it…The little girl started to scream and didn’t stop until the doll was back in the window of “Fantastic Toys” and the girl’s father took his money back.
Patrick thought that something might be wrong with the doll after all…

A month later, a tall guy stepped into the shop, got Anna, left more money at the cashier than Patrick had asked for the doll and left in a hurry.
When they entered his house, Anna froze. The house was full of paintings that had broken doll limbs stuck on them. He was a famous artist that used parts of broken dolls to create his unusual sculptures and paintings. He didn’t use Anna at once. He put her on a shelf and continued his work on some unfinished paintings. Anna became friends with his dog, Paco during her stay there. Then the day came. The painter took Anna in his hands and tried to pull her legs and her arms apart! Anna started to scream. Paco rushed into the room, grabbed Anna in his mouth and ran. A few minutes later the dog and the doll were in front of the “Fantastic Toys”. Paco left Anna on the doorstep and left.
Patrick found Anna sitting in front of his door the next morning. He looked at her, puzzled, and said to himself “I think I have the perfect place for her”. He took her home, a beautiful apartment on the top of a baroque building and placed Anna behind his bedroom window, so that she could enjoy the beautiful city view. Anna was ecstatic. For the first time in her life she had a room with a view and nobody around to ask her to be something she didn’t want to. She was alone of course, but who knows…maybe Patrick, the nicest person in the world, would have some children some day and then Anna would have company.

Children cry

2007-09-16T04:41:00.000-07:00

Help those who suffer from poverty and hunger.

Stop the child's cry

Photo: http://www.hhi.org/

Healthy Eating Tips for our Children - 2

2007-04-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

Choose and prepare foods with less salt.

Keep the salt shaker off the table.

Have fruits and vegetables on hand for snacks instead of salty snack foods.

Involve your child in planning and preparing meals. Children may be more willing to eat the dishes they help fix.

Have family meals together and serve everyone the same thing.

Healthy Eating Tips for our Children - 1

2007-04-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

Give your child a snack or two maximum in addition to his or her three daily meals and make sure they are healthy enough, such as dried fruit, low-fat yogurt, and air-popped popcorn.

Offer your child a wide variety of foods, such as grains, vegetables and fruits, low-fat dairy products, and lean meat or beans.

Let your child decide whether and how much to eat, unless you notice that they keep eating too much, or too little.

Keep serving new foods even if your child does not eat them at first.

Cook with less fat-bake, roast, or poach foods instead of frying.

Limit the amount of added sugar in your child's diet. Choose cereals with low or no added sugar. Serve water or low-fat milk more often than sugar-sweetened sodas and fruit-flavored drinks.

First day in a new school?

2007-04-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Is your child going to a new school?
This is something to talk about.
Encourage your child to share his or her feelings, especially after the first few days at school.
Just before the first day, talk about the excitement of starting at a new school, and discuss any concerns your child might have. Share with them similar experiences you might have had.
Don't forget to visit the school yourself in advance and take a tour. Call the school and arrange it, take your child with you if you think it could help. Help your child find their way around the school and the location of their classroom and the bathroom. If possible, meet the teacher and principal.
A very useful one: introduce you child to a classmate before the first day of school. They won't feel so alone during the cruel first day...

Teaching our children to read.

2007-04-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Teaching our children to love reading is very important. Here are some tips to make it easier. They will thank you for ever for helping them find a true friend to turn to through their whole life: a good book.

Make it a habit. Invite a child to read with you every day.

Help the child learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the word he or she says is the word he or she sees, by pointing word by word as you read

Read a child's favorite book over and over again. They will learn new words and memorize a story they love, which they can tell their friends later.

Read many stories with rhyming words and lines that repeat. Invite the child to join in on these parts. Point, word by word, as he or she reads along with you.

Discuss new words and make them use their imagination. For example, "This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in a palace?"

Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story.

Read from a variety of children's books, including fairy tales, song books, poems, and information books.

Friends in the forest

2007-03-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a little girl living with her father in a small fishing village on a Greek island. Her name was Demetra.
Her father was a fisherman and everyday he took his boat and sailed away in the wild sea to catch some fish and sell it in order to earn some money for him and his little daughter.

One day, Demetra’s father did not return from the sea. Demetra was waiting and waiting, but he didn’t show up. The little girl was completely alone now. Her mother had died when she was a baby and now she lost her father too. She was very sad and didn’t know what to do.

She decided to go to the church and pray, because she had seen women do so when they were worried about people of their families who were out in the sea.
The church was on the top of a hill. Demetra got up early in the morning and followed the path that led through the forest to the church.

As soon as the little girl went into the forest, she saw a snake before her feet. She froze. And then the snake spoke: “Don’t be scared, I won’t bite you; you see people are afraid of me, because I’m so different from their pets, that’s why they think I’m evil and aggressive. What are you doing alone in the forest?”
Demetra explained everything to the snake and it said: “Don’t worry, I’ll come with you to the church. There is a little river next to it and I want to drink some water. This way, I can also keep an eye on you, since you’re so young and all alone in the forest.”
They walked for a while and then a fox appeared in front of them. The snake froze. The fox is one of its worst enemies but it didn’t want to leave Demetra alone. And then the fox spoke: “Little girl, tell to the snake to relax. I’m not going to attack it. It’s just a prejudice this entire thing about foxes and snakes being enemies. And as we cannot understand each other’s language, I cannot explain to it. Can you do it for me?”
Demetra replied: “I will tell everything you said to the snake, but you should know that I don’t like very much my self. My aunt has told me that foxes steal her chickens”. “She’s telling the truth” the fox said. “But I wouldn’t steal a single chicken, if my mom gave me an egg for breakfast every morning, like she does for her children. What are you doing in the forest all alone?”
Demetra explained everything to the fox and told the snake not to be afraid. The fox said: ”I will come with you to the church. There’s a grapevine there and I’m getting hungry. Besides, I may get a chance to become friends with the snake.

Sometime later they saw some hunters walking in the forest and hid, because if the hunters saw them, the fox would be in danger.
They kept walking and just a little before arriving to the church, a big bad guy appeared suddenly in front of them. He looked at them with an evil sneer on his ugly face and said: “I will make some good money from the snake’s skin, but I’ll make more from the fox’s fur…and as for the little girl… I will make a fortune!”
The fox bolted towards the direction where the hunters were and the snake attacked the man. The man howled with pain as the snake bit him and at the same time the hunters started firing their guns because the had seen the fox. When the man heard the gunfire, he got scared and ran away.

The priest, who was in the church, heard the gunfire, too and ran into the forest, where he found Demetra. “Demetra”, he said, “are you alright?”. “I heard people shooting! What are you doing all alone in the forest?”
“I came to pray because my dad is missing the last few days. He went fishing and hasn’t come back yet.”
“Demetra your dad has just come back. I just saw his boat arriving, you can see it too, from where we’re standing; look!” Demetra looked and as they were standing on the top of the hill she had a clear view of the island’s dock. Her father’s boat had indeed just pulled in. Feeling extremely relieved, she heard the priest say: “I will take you home, it’s very dangerous walking alone in the forest for such a little girl.”
“I wasn’t alone”, Demetra said. “You can find friends at the least likely places, as long as you are not afraid to let them come close to you.” The priest smiled approvingly and they took the way to her home…