Hada Morada, the newest member of my puppet family, has a job to do, and she’s intent on doing it.

She’ll make her debut on the school stage at the end of this month, when classes start up again. She’ll sashay (so to speak) into the classroom, waving her varita mágica (magic wand) and ask the Mexican kids – ranging in age from eight to eleven – what they wish for.

Although her name, Hada Morada, is Spanish for “Purple Fairy,” Hada will be speaking English to the kids because, well, that’s what they’re there to learn. She hopes to use her otherworldly wiles to charm them into paying attention, knowing they’ve likely never seen a fairy in person before, only in fairytales.

She won’t promise to fulfill their wishes, of course, because that would be, to say the least, misleading. But she will do her best to encourage them to hope that their wishes come true. After all, this is a new month in a new year and a new decade. What better time to hope and wish actively for good things?

If the kids are curious – as they tend to be – Hada will tell them a little bit about herself and her fairy family.

“Fairies,” she might say, “are like earthbound angels. Most of the time we hide from human sight behind trees and shrubs and flowers. Children can sometimes see fairies, but usually grownups cannot. My family prefers to live among the flowers. That’s why I wear lavender.”

She might go on: “Some famous fairies you probably know are Peter Pan’s sidekick, the mischievous Tinker Bell, and the Fairy Godmother in ‘Cinderella.’ Also, the Tooth Fairy, who is known for leaving money beneath kids’ bed pillows in exchange for fallen baby teeth.

“Come to think of it,” Hada might add, “I wonder where she gets the money and what she DOES with all those teeth!”

If the children should ask Hada where fairies come from, she’ll tell them they come from The Land of Enchantment – also known as Fairyland.

“And where is that?” one of the more curious children will likely ask.

“Nobody knows for sure,” Hada will say. “But stories of fairy-like creatures can be found in all parts of the world – in folklore, myths, and legends.”

Then she’ll ask them to write out their wishes – in English – and she’ll tell them again (waving her wand) how much she hopes that all their wishes will come true.

I had fun creating Hada – winging it, with every hand-sewn stitch and every squirt of my glue gun – while I was hibernating (hiding from the human race and all the holiday hullaballoo) during the Christmas season. Making her made me very happy.

She’s no beauty queen, but who among us is?  (Must a fairy queen be a beauty queen too? I don’t think so.) Beneath her wire wings, her purple yarn hair, and her lavender satin dress, she’s just an old sports sock.

But she can speak! She can tell stories! She can wave her magic wand! She has a purpose — and isn’t that what we all wish for in life?

Actually, I love her, and I hope the kids will too. So I’m really looking forward to taking her to school.