“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”- Philip Pullman

Every night before going to sleep, I tell stories to my daughter. It is a little ritual that we follow as a family. Through stories I try to introduce a new value or show her how some behaviour patterns produce good results and some not. This is a story I shared with her few days ago. She was upset that she wasn’t selected in her school dance group.

I thought for a while and this is what I came up with for her 🙂

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Donald Duck and his friends went for a picnic. After playing  the whole day, they decided to relax besides the camp fire. At that time Donald starts to tell a story, about tomato seeds… to everyone. Now all of them were very curious to hear the story about tomato seeds. Donald starts…

“Once upon a time, there was a farmer who was very fond of tomatoes. He brought a bag full of tomato seeds from the market. Out of those seeds, there was one very special… and unique tomato seed… The farmer was unaware of this. He sowed all the seeds in the same soil… where they all got equal amount of water… and sun rays… All the seeds were very active, and they began to sprout soon, but this special seed… was yet to sprout. It saw others grow as a plant and in few days some plants started bearing juicy… and tasty… tomatoes…

The special seed was sad as it was all alone…. buried in a dark corner. After few days of struggle it was about to give up, but then he heard a voice, maybe it was the voice of the farmer or perhaps it was his own internal voice, which was so powerful and certain.

It said, ‘You’re a special seed. You’re blessed. You’re the lucky one. Tonight as you go to sleep, I want you fill your heart with a firm belief that you’re born to do wonderful things. You’re born to bear the juiciest and yummiest tomatoes. No matter what you experienced in the past, I want you to watch yourself becoming a healthy tomato plant in the future, now.’

That night something shifted within the special seed, permanently!

Maybe he was all set to begin his new journey.”

The story ended and Donald was surprised to see that all his friends were asleep….comfortably!

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And yes my daughter was comfortably asleep in my arms.

I leave this story open for interpretation and if you liked it, then do leave a comment and share your thoughts with me.

Do you tell stories to your children? Have you ever noticed a difference in your child’s behaviour after narrating a story? If yes, do share your experience with me.

Love and gratitude,

Gayu