How many times when growing up were you subjected to the nursery rhyme/fairy tale as an effort by an adult to teach a lesson. These stories, as cute as they may be, are just another tool used by adults to ‘control’ kids. Children beware! Are we really so dumb as to believe that a big bad Wolf, in pursuit of a nice pork dinner would try to huff and puff and blow down a house? Even a straw house would be a futile undertaking by even the biggest blowhard in the community.
And come on, a young girl walking through the woods, alone, wearing a red cape carrying a picnic basket, is just a little on the fantasy side to begin with, not to mention, just asking for trouble. Oh. the violence contained in this story. It deserves an “R” rating, Poor old grandma, kidnapped, tied up and put in a closet is not the type of scenario to present to a child. This horrific scene could cause problems for years to come. Really now, how naïve could a young lady be to carry on a conversation with a disguised wolf lying in her grandmother’s bed, and not notice that grandma needed a shave. The horror that takes place when the wolf is assaulted by a woodcutter and is mutilated by having his tail chopped off.
Then we have the three bears. Momma bear, Poppa bear, and Baby bear, who actually live in a house out in the forest somewhere. Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac are pushing the envelope a little on this one. Then here is this crazy chick wandering out through the woods again, all alone, who sees a house, and decides to break-in and eat their food then take a nap in one of the bear’s beds. What a great example for an impressionable kid. It’s not yours, but if you want it or need it, take it anyway.
Of course the account of the good for nothing kid who was told by his mom to take a cow and sell it at the market to get money for food. This little idiot by the name of Jack, instead swaps the cow for three ‘magic’ beans. Can we say “rip-off”? Can we say, “con-man?” Gee mom, did you not realize Jack was a little on the ‘slow’ side? What could be magic about a bean anyway? Then the little twerp plants the beans and grows a giant bean plant. Come on…give me a break. I sense a little exaggeration here. Gee, what is this kid smoking, rabbit tobacco? He tells everyone he climbed the beanstalk. Lo and behold, people believe him. He comes up with this hairbrained story about a giant, and a goose that laid golden eggs. This is really getting deep now. Mom, did you not teach this kid anything? He steals the guy’s goose and the giant is perceived to be the bad guy. He just wants his goose back. I am starting to see a pattern here.
There’s also the wild tale about a cat playing a fiddle and a cow jumping over the moon, and a dog laughing at them. The dog was laughing because they were so stupid. And a “dish runs away with a spoon”, is this some kind of code or something? It makes no sense at all.
We see a crazy chicken running around screaming, “the sky is falling”, and a really stupid chick sitting on a ‘tuffet’, (what the heck is a tuffet?), eating curds and whey. For those who did not grow up on a farm, ‘curds and whey’ is buttermilk So she sees a spider, it scares her and she runs away leaving her buttermilk.
. We cannot forget about Mary. You know, she’s the girl who had the lamb, with fleece as white as snow. Yeah, right. The lamb followed her to school one day. Oh, give me a break..the lamb followed her? She probably took it to school to try to impress somebody.
We begin our lives being lied to, told outrageously exaggerated untrue stories, encouraged to believe animals can talk and think like humans, and to cheat and steal.
Why do we wonder about dysfunction of the family? Hmmm….This will require some deep thought
Random Musings of an Old Man 
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