"My mother-in-law happened to be over when Brianna said it, and told her that if she wished for her sister to disappear, invisible fairies would hear her and take Clarissa away forever. Now, Brianna is scared that Clarissa will be spirited away by imaginary pixies and is constantly checking on her and is even afraid to go to school because she worries her sister will be gone when she gets home."
"I have told my MIL that Brianna is frightened and she needs to explain that what she told her was untrue. My MIL's response has said I should be thanking her since Brianna has shown more tolerance for her sister. Jane has been no help as she agrees with her mother. I've tried explaining to Brianna that Grandma just made it up to get her to behave, but she doesn't quite seem to believe me. Any suggestions?"
"Try to explain it to her again. And I think you can do so without taking away the whimsical idea of fairies. She is, after all, only 6 years old. Generally, in popular culture, fairies are kind and fun and get into lighthearted mischief. Think: Tinkerbell! (I know that's not always the case, especially in literature, but work with me here.)"
A six-year-old became terrified after a grandmother told her that invisible fairies would take her sister away if she wished it. The child now constantly checks on her sister and fears leaving for school. The parent has urged the grandmother to correct the story, but the grandmother defends her tactic and the mother supports it. The advice is to calmly reiterate to the child that the tale was made up to scare her, to preserve whimsical, kind fairy imagery, to show reassuring media, and to get all caregivers aligned in their response.
Read at Slate Magazine
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