“Tell me a story…”
My granddaughters and I were sitting on the floor of their pink-painted cabin at the bottom of the garden. I had evicted yet another invading spider and, while the youngest sat on my knee, her almost-five year old big sister was sprawling in the pink armchair.
The three of us had been playing. I had pushed little Imogen on her swing until she giggled with joy and had chased Hollie around the garden, swinging her up onto my shoulders and teaching her to stand on her head in a fairly unorthodox manner. Somehow, small children make you forget the aches and pains… at least until next morning when you try to move again.
By this point though, we had settled down in the playhouse and eaten a meal of chocolate-dipped worms and green slimegrobbels with custard… a menu chosen by Hollie and lovingly prepared by the smallest of chefs. I could only be thankful that the meal was imaginary… and delight in the serious expression with which Imogen, barely two years old, ‘cooked’ and ‘ate’ the ‘food’ while Hollie supervised. Watching a child’s imagination begin to flower is a beautiful thing.
As we settled down in the pink palace built by a besotted father for his princesses, Hollie asked what we should play next. I asked her to tell me a story.
“I don’t know any stories…” She held up empty hands, but that, I knew, was far from the truth. Not only can Hollie tell a good story from those she has heard, she also creates whole imaginary worlds for us to play in.
“You know lots of stories…” Hollie sighed and rolled her eyes in a manner that will serve her well when she has children of her own.
“Just pretend I don’t know any stories, Grandma… so, you’ll have to tell one.” I had walked into that, so we snuggled up and I began with the traditional words…
“Once upon a time, on the edge of a forest, there lived a little girl. She was as pretty as a princess and loved to wear a red riding cloak with a hood. Her name…” I could see the satisfaction as Hollie recognised the tale, “was Fred…”
“Fred???”
“Fred.”
Hollie, her interest well and truly caught, sat forward in her armchair as I told how Little Fred Riding Hood had gone to visit Grandmother in the woods, carrying a basket of slimegrobbels, because Grandmother’s best friend, the Wolf, was poorly…and how, when she arrived at the cottage, Fred found that the wicked witch, disguised as a woodcutter, had changed them both into gingerbread men who had been packed in a giant’s lunchbox and had to be rescued by the fairy godmother who turned them into pumpkins by mistake.
Imogen was almost asleep, but Hollie had listened to every word. She sighed again.
“That was just a pretend story, Grandma. Now tell me the real one…where Red Riding Hood isn’t called Fred… or anything else…” She went on to give me a synopsis of the whole adventure so that I would not miss any of the important details.
I smiled and told the story, pleased that my little granddaughter could tell the difference between a ‘real’ and a ‘pretend’ fairytale. It wasn’t simply that she knew the original plot well, she recognises that such tales have to be told in a certain way… ‘properly’, she called it. That is a common thing for children. The words and how a story is told matters.
What struck me most, though, was that from the way she was telling me the storyline, she also seems to understand, at some instinctive level, that while fairytales are not true, they are real in their own way. They have their own integrity and, when ‘properly’ told, they are important. Arbitrary changes are not allowed as they alter the essence of the story completely and, at the heart of every old fairytale, there are lessons to be learned whose sense will be lost if the salient details are altered.
In the days before the majority could read or write…and even further back, to a time before the written word was invented, storytelling would have been very much a part of the life of the tribes and families as they gathered around the light of the hearthfire. Stories would have been valued, from the anecdotes the old ones told of their youth, to the tales of the hunters, to those told by the shamans and teachers.
Much wisdom can be concealed within a story… and such tales would have been learned young, perhaps long before they were fully understood. Because they were stories, not obvious lessons, they would have been remembered and both the stories themselves and the hidden wisdom they held would have been passed down through the tribes and clans, just as we still remember the fairytales of childhood and tell them to the children at our knees.
As I sat there with my granddaughters, I felt that we were part of a story that goes back to the earliest human lives… and forward into a future that will one day leave even our memories behind. I remembered my own early years, looking up at great grandma and saying those same words. Images flitting across the screen of memory like gentle ghosts… a child absorbing lessons unawares, their stories attached to the emotions they engendered… and to the love of the storyteller .
Will Hollie tell her granddaughters about Little Fred Riding Hood one day? Will Imogen teach her grandchildren to make slimegrobbels and custard? How far into the past do we reach with that one simple phrase? How far into the future will one shared fairytale carry us as children uncountable say the magic words…
“Tell me a story.”
There is nothing about this post that is not entirely adorable! How blessed those girls are to have such an imaginative and wise grandma.
I think it is grandma who is blessed 😉
Reblogged this on France & Vincent.
Oh my, I was as rapt as the girls–and burst out laughing at “Fred”!! This is a marvelous post, and I love that your granddaughter believes a tale must be told properly, with order and integrity. It reminded me of a quote from an American author which I’ve kept…in case I ever complete a novel in progress:
“Even in imagination we must obey the logic of what we started. Even in imagination we must be true to our obligations, for, even in imagination, obligation cannot be outrun. Imagination, like reality, has its limits.” by Tim O’Brien, Going After Cacciato.
Thanks, Fleur.
Stories have such a lot to teach us… even if, sometimes, it is only how to laugh.
Exactly! Laughing is crucial 🙂
Always 🙂
🙂
I miss my days of being with children. The world is a much better place seen through their eyes…
I agree… and I feel very privileged to be able to share their view for a while when I am with them.
I must be honest, Sue, I loved your jumbled fairy tale, it reminds me of Enid Blyton.
Thank you, Robbie… I loved her books as a small child.
Quite delightful, Sue. What a gift it is to be a grandma! I LOVED that I was blessed with three, healthy sons. (But not one of them has produced a grand-child for me…) Hey ho. The fact you are so engaged with your little ones will stand them in good stead for the future. We are children for the shortest time, so the stories you share are precious. xx
They are delightful, Joy…and I love spending time with them both. <3
Reblogged this on WordyNerdBird and commented:
This post is just glorious. It’s full of all kinds of magic.
Storytelling magic.
The magic of the story itself.
And that very special kind of magic that binds Grandma and granddaughters together in love.
Enjoy.
Thank you 🙂
Just wonderful, Sue. I’m so glad you fully understand and pass along to your readers the story of how and why. Beautiful post!
It is a shared learning for all of us, Jennie. You know better than most how much children can teach us.
Yes, I do, Sue. It’s when the teacher becomes ‘one’ with the child that learning on all levels explodes, from emotional to cognitive. Being part of that is the best! And you are one of the lucky ones to know that.
I count myself blessed to have the chance to learn it 🙂
😀
I loved the story—both imaginary and real fairytale retelling. You paint a lovely picture with your grandchildren. Thank you for bringing it to life!
I love spending time with the girls… children have so much to teach us.
I am definitely coming 💜😁
I know…and that’s wonderul, Willow <3
I am excited 💜
<3
I so loved this story Sue, and that little Holly is on the ball it seems! Maybe a chip off of grandma’s block. 🙂 <3
Their parents are brilliant with the girls, but I get to just play <3
That’s what good grandmas do. <3
🙂 <3
Reblogged this on Not Tomatoes.
Thanks, Alethea 🙂 xx
I imagine you are a wonderfully fun grandmother, Sue. Of course, it helps to have equally delightful granddaughters. 🙂
I was visited yesterday too… Hollie insisted 🙂
Reblogged this on Sun in Gemini and commented:
Let us tell you a story… Sue’s post
Oh, stories have always been the thing that carried me through many trials and tribulations of childhood. Even as a teenager, I remember sitting next to Grandma’s rocking chair and putting my hand up to softly knead her well wrinkled skin. I used to tell her how wonderful it was that her skin felt like the Thanksgiving turkey, soft to the touch and so comforting. I am sure it sounded like something silly, but to me, it was magical.
I would always ask her to tell me a story, and there were two I was particularly fond of: The Little Match Girl and The Red Shoes. Now both stories seem truly dismal to read, but there were so many lessons in each of them. The Little Match Girl gave me hope in a world that was difficult for me through my youth and teen years, and The Red Shoes helped me to understands what happens when a person suffers from obsession.
Yes, I am sure that children learned many lessons of life that would carry them for years and all kinds of situation, but in language and ways that they could understand on a different level. Thank you kindly for this excellent memory.
The logical mind of the adult likes to analyse… I think the older stories speak to the heart of the child, no matter what our age.