Giving New Meaning to Parenting

The best stories are made up right as they’re being told, from whole cloth — and it’s not as hard as you’d think.

My grandmother used to tell “Jimmy, Johnny, and George” stories. These three boys, amazingly, were always doing just about exactly what my brother and I were. I remember “Jimmy, Johnny, and George Go to the Zoo” and “Jimmy, Johnny, and George Go on a Long Drive.”

I think was about 14 before I figured out that she’d been making them up the whole time, just inventing them as she went along rather than remembering them from an enormous “Jimmy, Johnny, and George” collection. I was impressed beyond measure and immediately promised myself that when I had kids, I’d make up stories for them, too.

So now I tell stories, and to my surprise, I found it’s not that hard. I simply boil down the concept of “story” to the essentials we all know: there needs to be a character, a conflict, and a resolution.

Since we’re talking kids’ stories, here, I also tend to insist on a moral.

As an example, here’s my basic strategy, together with a sample story I told last week, more or less as I remember it:

1. I ask Fern whom the story should be about, and I go with it no matter what she says, which has gotten a little dicey because she’s taken to picking some pretty bizarre characters.

“Fern, what do you want to hear a story about?”
“My clabicle!”
“OK. Once upon a time, Fern’s clavicle was walking down the street…”

2. I make the character need something.

“…and the clavicle decided it would like some ice cream. But it couldn’t find an ice cream shop!”

3. Then, I involve Fern in solving the problem.

“So what do you think Fern’s clavicle did?”
“It bought some ice cream at the store!”
“Right!”

4. Sometimes, I repeat steps 2 and 3 to make the story go on a little longer.

“When the clavicle got into the store, it realized that it couldn’t buy any ice cream because it didn’t have hands. Who did it ask for help?” Joey! “That’s right! How did you know? It was Joey who bought ice cream and gave it to Fern’s clavicle to eat.”

5. Finally, I finish with a moral, even if it’s somewhat forced.

“And the moral of the story is that if you don’t have any hands to hold your ice cream, ask Joey for help!”

From an adult point of view, my stories fall somewhere between weird-funny and cross-to-the-other-side-of-the-street-weird, but for some reason, nearly every young kid has been entranced by the notion that a “story” can be more than a static, one-sided affair, but a full-participation event.

So get out there and tell your kids some stories — and post the results! I love made-up stories and would be inspired to hear your inventions!

by Doodaddy

Photo graciously provided by mms0131, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved