KEY POINTS:
I love the reaction on people's faces when I say I am a fairy. The looks I get range from them thinking "Cuckoo!" to being delighted to meet a real fairy. I sometimes explain to people that I am also a storyteller and magician but often my mischievous
fairy nature wants to keep them guessing.
I have the best job in the world. What could be better than making children happy and keeping the magic alive?
More people should take a moment to remember the magic they knew as a child. Go for a walk outside, smell a flower, hum a tune to yourself or dance under the stars. Tell a child a magical fairy tale and watch their eyes light up with pure innocence. Simply remember that even in the technical and industrial world, there is magic all around you.
Einstein said: "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairytales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairytales." I think he said this because fairytales teach us so much about life and our potential. Imagination and the ability to hold mystery as its own truth are essential for new discoveries.
Fairytales are losing out to modern games and television programmes and I am promoting more balance - let's not throw out the magic of the old stories as we embrace the new.
I had some traumatic and sad birthdays when I was young. You don't have to be a shrink to figure out that is why it is so important to me that I make little girls' birthday dreams come true.
Even those who give a lot of love to the world must be a wee bit nasty sometimes. The shadow side of your personality can be honoured in harmless symbolic ways, like wearing naughty knickers, having fantasies of sailing away, telling off the queue-jumper - or being the queue-jumper.
The biggest challenge at birthday parties is parents who talk. I really don't think they realise how loud they are talking. My voice gets strained trying to perform over them. It is hard to keep my concentration when I am hearing about the latest diet or the new rugby coach.
A great kid's entertainer will do an age-appropriate show. Entertainment works best if the majority of the children are similar ages. Three-year-olds love the sweet, soft and simple; my bubble machine, face paint and looking for fairies are hits. Seven-year-olds adore slapstick and silliness along with their enchantment and mystery.
Parents often ask if I am an actor. I say "no, I am a fairy".
Kids are naturally drawn to expressions of good and evil. In the original Punch and Judy show there were six homicides. Parents often say "no scary stories", which I understand. However, I do think stories with adversity teach qualities like hope, strength, patience, wit and resourcefulness. We learn that we can grow to meet the challenges of life, and that frightening times pass and then we can enjoy the sweet joys of being on the other side of the bridge and past our fear.
Children want to have power. That's why they love my magic show so much; because I make it that they are doing the magic and have the power to play tricks on me. My magic show gives them an empowering experience they will remember for a long time.
I believe in happy endings. I am living proof that you can have your heart's desire. You don't need fairy vision to see that miracles are happening all around you, you just need an open heart and an open mind.
