I used to tease my son that the frogs you could hear singing out in the dark in summer were vampire frogs. One night I snuck outside his window and made little scratches on the screen. When I heard him cock his Nerf rifle inside, I knew I’d raised him right.
"I think it is possible that by confining your child to blameless stories of child life in which nothing at all alarming ever happens, you would fail to banish the terrors and would succeed in banishing all that can ennoble them or make them endurable. For in the fairy tales, side by side with the terrible figures, we find the immemorial comforters and protectors, the radiant ones. . . It would be nice if no little boy in bed, hearing, or thinking he hears a sound, were ever at all frightened. But if he is going to be frightened, I think it better that he should think of giants and dragons than merely of burglars. And I think St. George, or any bright champion in armour, is a better comfort than the idea of the police."
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I used to tease my son that the frogs you could hear singing out in the dark in summer were vampire frogs. One night I snuck outside his window and made little scratches on the screen. When I heard him cock his Nerf rifle inside, I knew I’d raised him right.
:D That's great!
Hey, there are vampire bats, why not vampire frogs?
Oh yeah. Pretty sure it's a D&D monster. Makes perfect sense to me, warped as I am.
I court the objections to Lewis here, but I can also cite his defenses.
"I think it is possible that by confining your child to blameless stories of child life in which nothing at all alarming ever happens, you would fail to banish the terrors and would succeed in banishing all that can ennoble them or make them endurable. For in the fairy tales, side by side with the terrible figures, we find the immemorial comforters and protectors, the radiant ones. . . It would be nice if no little boy in bed, hearing, or thinking he hears a sound, were ever at all frightened. But if he is going to be frightened, I think it better that he should think of giants and dragons than merely of burglars. And I think St. George, or any bright champion in armour, is a better comfort than the idea of the police."
Bruno Bettelheim said kids would rather play with tin soldiers than tin pacifists.
I love the video.
Before Bruno was Saki: The Toys of Peace
Very cute.
Thanks, Grim for that piece. I forwarded it to my son, who may be pursuing a future in telling stories to children (in a way).
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