04/01/2024
Do you remember the story of the girl who went for a walk in the forest and found an unlocked door to someone's house? She goes in and notices that no one is there so she decides to make herself comfortable by sitting on the furniture. She can't find the right one so she tries them all until she thinks she has found the most comfortable one. Well, it wasn't the best one because when she sits on it she breaks it. She doesn't make any attempt to find glue or tape to fix the chair.
She smells some food. She recognizes a the smell of warm porridge. As the smell wafts into the air she is drawn into the kitchen. She really has no business there because its not her house. After the broken chair incident you would think that she would get a little scared and leave. She doesn't. She goes into the kitchen and starts dipping a spoon into the 3 bowls of porridge. One is too, hot, one is too cold and one is just right. But this is no Costco where you just get a small sample of something. Oh no...she goes for it and eats the whole bowl of porridge. If you are not getting worked up right now well I am. Who does this girl think she is?? I could possibly excuse the chair but eating all the food? This is a home invasion! She has no right to be there!!. Where are the neighbors?? Shouldn't someone be posting this on Facebook live or something, maybe calling the police?
This stranger then continues through the house. She goes upstairs and lies in each bed. One is too hard, the other is too soft. What is going on?? This is not your house!! Finally she finds a bed that feels right and falls asleep!! How dare you? Is anyone else seeing what I am seeing? Does this house even have security cameras? Should I take out my phone and record what I am witnessing or what?
Well when occupants come home what do you think happens? What feelings do you think they might have?
We can engage children in stories but stopping and asking them what they think might happen when you turn to the next page. You can ask them how the homeowners might feel when then come home? We can get them to share their own feelings through the power of projection. This is how we access the young child's inner thoughts and feelings.
You see the story isn't about the child per se but it is about the child. It is about a whole host of things- the 3 occupants of the home, a girl, the violation of boundaries, anger, fear, safety and how the child who is experiencing the story can learn to deal with difficult emotions. As you read, the child goes through all the emotions as if it were happening to them, but well aware that this is not them. They can experience emotional safety because of the distance that stories provide.
We expand children's experiences, language, and emotions by engaging them in the story when we pause and ask them curious open ended questions. They also learn to problem solve. What would you do if Goldilocks did this in your house? When asked, children will give you some of the most amazing answers :)
Let's come full circle. What is the purpose of the story of Goldilocks and the Three bears? Why would we read it as a bedtime story? Is there a better time of day to read this story? Would this story activate or calm a child? How can it be used to develop regulation? How could it be used to foster problem solving skills?
In this story the author moves the child through calm, anxiety and a myriad of other challenging emotions such as anger and sadness, and then calm again. At the end, the emotional tensions are resolved for the child; Goldilocks wakes up and she runs away from the house and she is never to be seen again!
