III. The grimmest fairy tale

Finally, we had the story of the 8 little children who lived on the edge of the cold North Sea. The oldest girl was the leader, and the children took care of one another. They lived by their wits, gathering sea shells in the summer to sell in the village so that they could survive the cold of winter all together in their snug little house.

But there were trolls in the mountains, and the trolls hated the sounds of happy laughter. Of course they wanted to make the children miserable. They planted a sea shell made of ice from the heart of the troll King on the beach, and the oldest sister picked up the shell.

The cold went right up through her fingers and into her heart and the laughter stopped. Before long she left the beach and the sunshine and went to live with the trolls.

Her brothers and sisters looked everywhere for her. When they discovered that she had been captured by the trolls they pooled their money, bought a mirror and climbed the high mountain. They slept in the pine needles under a tall tree outside the entrance to the dark cave the trolls called home.

With the first light of dawn, the little brother held the mirror so that the rays of the sun shone down into the cave, melting the trolls into puddles of dirty water and freeing the beloved big sister.

My oldest daughter hated that story. I didn't get it. I kept telling it.

I thought the story was about good and brave children who would do anything for one another. I think for me the meta message was that even the biggest, the strongest, the leader could by vulnerable and that only by working together could everyone be safe and saved. Or maybe, that by working together even the smallest and weakest could overcome obstacles as dangerous and treacherous as the trolls, bringing everyone back home.

So, after all these years, I want to say that the story showed how good and brave all 8 of the children were and how much they loved each other.

And there are still 8.. . And there are still trolls that hate the laughter of happy people, which is why we have to pool our resources, climb the steep mountains, sleep under pine needles--whatever it takes--to make sure that every one of you knows without a doubt that they belong to this group that will not abandon them in the cold and dark.

Come out into the light.

It isn't easy to do alone, but you aren't alone.

And no. This story was never about a bad big sister. She was the best and the brightest--her brothers and sisters gave everything they had because they needed her with them.

So much for fairy tales.

Good night.

II. more grim fairy tales

Another favorite was the Grinch. I personalized stories--depending if it was a son or a daughter the child who with all good intentions wandered away from the safety of the house and yard, was either a boy or a girl. And of course once they were away from the house, on the edge of the woods, the Grinch snatched them up before they even had a chance to see him.(Evil lurks!)

The world can be a scary place, and only by keeping their wits about them, controlling the fear and panic, and thinking back to advice and counsel from the past could the child outwit the Grinch and make it back home alive. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but in the end the child not only outwitted, but also bested the Grinch every time and made it home, while knowing that danger stood just outside the door.

But those were meta messages.
And, in the end everyone was happy to be safely home.

I. Grim Fairy Tales

Do you think fairy tales have meta messages? I mean unlike fables, which always end with the moral of the story, do fairy tales teach messages without consciously stating what the message is?

And does every listener get the same message?

We had some favorite stories that were told over and over again. The big bad wolf and the seven kids was a favorite. In the end the kids are all saved, and the wolf drowns. The kids had been warned by their mother not to open the door to anyone, but the wolf was tricky. Even when the kids thought he was really their mother only bad things could happen when they opened the door to him.

But was it right to fill his stomach with stones and let him fall into the river?

I always thought so. You have got to keep the wolf away from the door.

The Law of the Garbage Truck

message in a Christmas card. . .

"A lot of people are like garbage trucks--They run around full of garbage, full of frustration and anger and disappointment. As the garbage piles up they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump on you! Don't take it personally.

Just smile, wave, wish them well and move on. You never want to stay too close to the garbage. And don't take their garbage and spread it around to friends at work, at home or on the streets."

Some things never change!

This was written by a granddaughter of Charles Monk in Spanish Fork, Utah. She was a child in the late 1800's. . .

“Grandfather had some hives of bees. I remember one time when we grandchildren were small we poked a stick in the holes of the hive to watch some bees come out, and of course we received some stings which gave us a lot of discomfort. I have watched grandfather extract the honey he took form the hives.

I remember our kids, the great great great grandkids of Charles Monk poking a stick into a wasp nest at the park one year when we were spending the summer at BYU. Yes, wasps came out. Yest, they were angry!

But what kid could resist????

Mo Boy

It's so fun going through old papers. I get to throw away a ton of junk and then once in awhile I come across some little treasure. I found a letter I wrote to my parents on August 2, 1983--four or five days after Morris was born. So here are some excerpts:

Hi, I'm a little tired... I figure if I can just adjust to this schedule I'll learn to do without sleep altogether. Actually Morris went 4 hours last night without a peep! I laid down abt 1:30 for a nap and of course he woke up at 2:15.

Janelle fixed us a big dinner Sunday and we ate the leftovers yesterday. By dinner time its nice to have someone else looking after things.

Megan and Ari have been doing laundry. Its a 2 man job at their size. One stands on the hamper and hands down wet clothes while the other fills the dryer. Megan made my bed this morning. I was thanking them for being such big helps and they said, That's OK. We have to start school in a couple of weeks and then we won't have to work so hard.

I called Morrie Carlson, the announcer on KSL yesterday and asked him if he liked his name and if other kids teased him when he was little. (What do you mean? Why would they tease me?) He mentioned on the air that we were naming our baby Morris and he had helped us to see what a fine name it was.

Well, I guess I better go change the little pooper. Love you lots....

See what I mean? Such fun to find these little tidbits with the details we might otherwise forget. Thanks Janelle, and Megan and Ari. You are all the greatest.
Not to mention Mo, you little pooper!!

I love you all!!