Tell me a story…

“Tell me a story”, these words can create a wonderfully bonding experience between a child and their parent. And what parent doesn’t want to have that tender memory. Many of us spent hours reading to our children when they were young. Our children became great readers because they grew up with the foundation of being read to. Every night we could be found reading our own favorite stories to them; God knows, I read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss to my son so many times, that now 18 years later I can still recite it.

There are so many wonderful books out there that can teach children how to read and provide gentle life lessons and the basics of how to communicate. But how lucky is the child that has the parent who can create their own stories! Stories that will be a special memory for the two of them. This pre-school experience of creating a story from nothing will stick with the child for years because they’ll know that their father or mother created that story for them just on a whim.

I can remember my son showing me something like a picture of seashell or flower and asking a question about the story behind it. The bumblebee sitting in a trip at a flower would bring a string of questions like; “What’s it doing mommy? Where’s it going to go next? Why does it stop that flower?” As any parent knows, once the questions begin, they can be never-ending, especially at bedtime! But if you can create a story from just one of those random thoughts, your child will remember it for years, and as an adult you might be surprised to hear them reciting your made-up story to their own children.

As a writer as a challenge to look at a picture and see beyond the still life in front of you. It becomes a source of incentive, imagination, and inspiration. To look at the picture and create a story from it, is a gift to be used and shared. Just what the writer creates can be something wonderful. Think about it; you can make up your own country, your own world, and your own grand adventures. You can create a tale that tells the story between a husband and wife, brother and sister, or best friends.

So my challenge to you; create a story for your child, create a story for yourself, create a story to share with the world.
There is a picture out there just waiting for you to put it to words!