Every night at bedtime we read a book, a Bible story, and then we have a free-form story where Owen gets to request the topic. Sometimes he asks for a story about when we were little, sometimes a story about how something is made (ever since we watched the 'how donuts are made' you tube video years ago now, this has been a favorite topic), and often he just provides a noun. Last night it was 'worms'. Whenever I can, I try to use these precious moments for shameless brainwashing and thinly-veiled parental propagandizing. In other words, we make it a morality tale pertinent to the day's issues. Last night it went something like this:
"Once upon a time there was a little fish, and he loved to swim around the lake. He was pretty hungry one afternoon, and all of a sudden, what did he see but a lovely, fat worm wriggling in the lake. Worms were his favorite. He was so excited!! He was about to eat it when a bunch of his friends swam over and said, "Stop! Don't eat that worm! It's dangerous!" Well, it didn't look very dangerous to him. It just looked delicious. So he got his mouth wide open and started to swim toward it when his friends said again, "STOP!! Don't do it! It's not a good idea!" The fish wasn't sure what to do. He thought about it a little bit, but he decided that he was too hungry, and the worm looked too good, and it just couldn't be that dangerous. So, he didn't listen to their warning, and he went right over and ate that worm. It tasted really good...until...ouch! Oh no! There was a fisherman's hook in that worm and in went right through the fish's lip and he was caught by the fisherman. The fisherman put the fish in his boat and cooked him and ate him up for supper."
I asked Owen if he wanted another story and he said 'penguins'! And so followed:
"Once upon a time there was a little black and white penguin. He lived in an icy and snowy and cold place and he loved to sled and slide. It was his favorite thing. One day he was on a walk with his mom and when they got to the top of the hill, he was so excited!! He looked over and saw a giant ice slide glistening and slippery and looking very fun. He really was excited to slide down it. But his mom said, "Don't slide down that ice slide! It is too dangerous!" But the little penguin knew that he was strong and getting bigger every day, and he thought he could do it safely. But his mom said, "That is a bad idea! It is way too dangerous for you." He really wanted to go down it and it didn't look too scary. He thought about it and looked at it some more. Then he decided to trust his mom and listen to her. He didn't go down the ice slide. He was a little sad that he didn't get to have all the fun he wanted to, but he stayed safe and found other fun things to do."
The good part was the resultant conversation:
Mommy, was the slide safe?
Nope. The little penguin didn't know it, but if he would have gone down that slide, he would have slid way too fast, gone flying off the end, landed on his head and broken his beak.
Oh.
Which animal made a good decision do you think?
The fish did NOT listen to the warning and the penguin did. Did the fish get hurt??
Yep, he got more than hurt. He got cooked and eaten up! [Does a story this gruesome get me bad mommy points?]
Mommy, the fish made a bad decision and the penguin made a good decision. Mommy, you should NOT tell Asher the story about the fish. You should only tell him the good story about the penguin. If you tell him the story about the fish he might listen to it and make bad decisions. I'm warning you mommy [finger wagging], DON'T tell Asher that one!
[Mom and Dad unsuccessfully smothering laughter]
What's so funny?? What??
I guess I should listen to my own propaganda, heed the warning and not tell Asher! Hee hee :)
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