stories

Into the Woods

"Children will listen...."

That's what has me pecking away at the keyboard again.

We sat around the table telling stories.  Now that my kids are

older some of the old tales don't seem quite so afflictive.

My girls told me, "People love this kind of stuff- you should

write it down".  So I am.

Sharp parents learn to take the advice of children; especially their own.

Stories have an amazing capacity to touch the part of a human mind that traditional wisdom, reason, or substantive evidence cannot.

They can revive lost memories.  Change long held persuasions

and opinions.  Incite deeper understanding.  Stories inspire, amaze, remind, entertain, encourage, and sometimes speak to parts of the soul that didn't even know it had stopped listening.

Good ones can transport the most unimaginative dolt to a place of magic and beauty... or to a precipice of utter horror.

Into the Woods reminded me how much I love stories.

This particular combination of several stories mingled was enough of a distraction to capture my attention and keep me from trying to multitask as I watched.  Perched on the sofa, engrossed for an hour.

The final line of the movie is, "children will listen".

It caught me off guard as every other reference to children listening was closer to my own observation- they don't.

Children will listen.

It resonated.  My own children hadn't listened to a word I'd said in at least a decade if it didn't involve food, money, or their distribution.  But they HAD listened to the stories I'd told.
Just a few nights before, when we'd sat around the table and shared stories.  They'd not only listened but asked for details.

They'd laughed, asked questions, even shared some stories of 

their own.  Stories broke down the barriers.  They reached right past teenage defenses into their hearts and minds.

And they want more.

So while there won't be any operatic accompaniment to these tales, I'll delve into the woods to tell a few stories of my own.