Here's the story...

The other day Barrett and I were playing in his room. He handed me his Bible and said, "Wanna read it?" Oh how I love that sweet question! Of course I did! As he climbed into his pint-sized recliner and I sat myself in front of him, I had a wave of nostalgia. There was a time when adults actually TOLD kids stories...from memory! No books, no iPads, laptops or TV. My grandfather, Wally, used to sit his grand kids down and make us howl with a tale about his alleged goat, Horace. Surely I could tell Barrett a Bible story that I'd heard a bazillion times. With Christmas right around the corner, I figured I could entrance my little one with the real meaning of the season, Jesus' birth.

 

"Ready, Bear? OK, go ahead and sit back down. No, sit. I'm going to tell you a story about Jesus. Tell me when you're ready. Bud, sit."

"Weady."

"Long ago, there was a lady named Mary and a man named Joseph. What was the lady's name? Bear, get back up in your chair. I want to tell you this story. Remember, the lady's name was Mary. One day, an angel came to Mary and told her not to be scared. She was going to have a baby and that baby would save the whole...<allow time for me to choke up> world. Who was the baby going to save?"

"Fire trucks."

"Ok yes, but mostly of people. Jesus would come to save people. So the night came when it was time for Jesus to be born. That meant he was going to come out of Mary's tumm...what is it, bud?"

"What is that? I hear something!"

"It's a horn, Bear. That night-"

"A horn! It is a car or a truck? Which one?"

"SO that night, there was nowhere for Mary to-"

"Is it a car or a truck? A car? A race car?!?"

"Bear! It's a car! OK? I'm really trying to tell you a special story! Get. Back. In. Your. Chair. <deep breath to calm myself back into serene storytelling mode> There was nowhere for Mary to go so Joseph took her to a barn. What was in that barn? Maybe a cow?"

"And a goat!"

"Yes, maybe a goat! So Jesus was-"

"And a chick! Here chick-chick! Chick-chick!"

"I bet you're right, good job! And there was this star-"

"I'm done with mama's story now. <slides noodle-like off the chair and flops himself onto the bed> I'm a frog! You want to play cars now? Where's my bus?"

END SCENE.

Thanks to my son, I now have more insight into why the art of storytelling seems to be dying out. And could also be used as a means of torture on prisoners of war. Back to the iPad...