Speak to the king within the man...

Once upon a time there lived a boy named Jack.
He lived with his mother and his best friend cow named Milky White

One day Jack's mom said to him, "You must take Milky White to market".

"But no, he's my best friend", Jack said.

But his mom convinced him.

On his way to market he met a man who had six magic beans.

He asked, "Jack is your cow for sale."

"Yes", Jack said.

"How about six magic beans."

"Magic beans? Are you CRAZY?"

But the man convinced him they were magic.

When he got home his mother said "Jack did you sell your cow?"

"Yeah, for six magic beans."

"Magic beans? Are you CRAZY??" and she took the beans, threw them in the front yard and sent Jack to bed with no supper.

The next morning when Jack woke up, he looked out the window and saw a big giant bean stock stretching up to the sky. He said, "I'm going to climb it."

So he gathered his things and started to climb. Up, up, up the bean stock and he poked his head through the clouds.

He looked around and saw a big giant castle, with a big giant front door. So he ran to it and knocked.

Inside he heard "fee fi foe fum!!" and the giant door opened up and a big giant stepped out. Jack hid behind the door.

When the giant saw no one he went inside and Jack slid in behind. He looked around the castle and saw a big giant table, and big giant couch and a big giant TV and a big giant chair, and a big giant toilet and a big giant refrigerator... and a hen that laid golden eggs.

"We're rich!!" he said and he grabbed the hen, but he bumped the chair and the giant heard him!

Jack took the hen and ran for the door. He ran as fast as he could and the giant started chasing him "Fee fi foe fum, fee fi foe fum, fee fi foe fum."

Jack ran to the bean stock and went down, down, down, the bean stock.

The giant made it to the bean stock and started down. "Fee fi foe fum, fee fi foe fum, fee fi foe fum.

Jack made it down and ran inside his house and grabbed a hatched and started whacking on the bean stock. Whack! Whack! Whack!

And the giant went down the bean stock down, down, down,

And Jack whacked, Whack, Whack--Crack

TIMBER!!!!!

CRASH!!!

And the giant died and Jack lived happily ever after, the end.

Kids: Did the giant really die?

Dad: No but him and Jack became best friends.

This is, verbatim, the story that I have told Jaden, Allie, Graham and Marcie about five hundred times before bed and that is not an exaggeration. I started it with Jaden when he was but a wee toddler and it has been going on ever since. I know it word for word. The kids know it word for word, yet they still want to hear it, night after night. Even down to the end. "Did the giant really die?" I can count on that. I can also count on a correction if I change a single sentence.

So what is it about the story that makes them want to hear it over and over? They know the outcome. They know it beginning to end, so it's certainly not the suspense of it all. This has puzzled me, and at times, unnerved me. "What is with these kids and that stupid story?" To honestly know that answer one would have to climb inside their little minds and see what they see. I'll pass on that one.

I am left with my own conclussions and this is what I'll go with. I don’t think their infatuation lies in the story itself, but rather the teller.

Here's what I mean. I think it’s the five extra minutes with Dad and not five minutes with Jack that they crave. It's dad's elbows on their bed and his face close to theirs. It's his voice changing inflection like a crazy lunatic. It's his goofy faces as he hollers "fee fi foe fum! Fee fie foe fum!!" It’s his karate chop on his arm as he whacks down the bean stock. And most of all, it's their desire to stretch that three hours they get to be with their old man just five minutes more. To them, it's a perfect way to say goodnight to another day. It's added security as they close their eyes on their world. IT’S THEIR COMFORT BLANKET. Who am I to ever take that away from them?

Maybe I'm way off base. More than likely there is some child psychologist out there that can give a more scientific answer to this infatuation. If there is, I don’t want to hear it. I'll stick with mine. Maybe it's self indulgent or egotistical of me to think this. If it is, I'm cool with that.