December 13 2023

When teaching my sons (5yo & 8yo) about any larger concept, sex or death or betrayal or that one day they will have to leave me and their mother to become their own men — if I tell them about these things in a flat tone, or if I am direct and dry in my language, they shut down. I have seen them become guarded. This often leads to never telling them what they need to learn in bits and pieces over time. But if I walk into those concepts by beginning with the words, “Once upon a time there was a king and a queen in a castle near a great woods, and that king and queen had a son….” — my boys light up because the playing field has been leveled. It’s no longer dad talking. It’s generations. It’s our ancestors. It’s mystery. They don’t put that language to it, but they know it’s not simply me. By using story I can tell them about absolutely anything, and they are enthralled.