Say No To Fairy Tales

Sons Nos 2 & 3 heard the fairy tale stories of Snow White and Cinderella for the first time last week.

We were passing a row of bridal shops in SS2 when I chanced upon an ornate oval mirror through the shop window. I remarked, "Ha, that looks like it came straight from Snow White! Mirror, mirror, on the wall....!" Son No 2 promptly asked, "Who is Snow White?"

Aw shucks, I then remembered that my children were pretty ignorant when it came to fairy tales. It was deliberate. I did not want to fill my children's heads with the values perpetuated by these fairy tales which are very questionable. I'd rather tell/read them stories like Topsy and Tim, who share their daily experiences like taking the train/aeroplane, going to the hospital or having a pet. Now that they are older, I guess they would need to know, lest they appear ignorant in front of their classmates and teachers.

So, that night, before bedtime, I told them the story of Snow White. The first question was "What is a stepmother?" Good, we need to paint all stepmothers black. "What is 'fairest'?" Now we need to glamorise beauty. Well, at least, the hunter who let Snow White escape showed true compassion, as did the seven dwarfs. The part about the Prince coming to save Snow White from death? What can I say - sigh. I ended my story with the traditional line, "... and they lived happily ever after. The End." Sigh of relief.

But wait, my children have one last question, "What happened to the Queen?" Err... I really don't know. Struck by lightning or similar violent death - as due justice for evil deeds - meted out by an all-powerful 'unknown'? Ya, that will scare them no end.

The next night, they asked for another fairy tale. OK, the magic mirror and the seven dwarfs did lend some enchantment to the sordid tale. Well, to continue their education on fairy tales, I went on to tell them the story of Cinderella. Another stepmother story. It started well enough with the appearance of the fairy godmother but by the time we talked about the ball (ya, you guessed it, what is the ball?), dancing and glass slippers, they were positively bored.

There were no more requests for fairy tales after that. The next night, we were back to reading about animals.