A lifetime of folklore finally pays off.

I love folktales. From Anansi and Raven stories to Bugs Bunny and urban legends to Bruno Bettelheim's and Paul Barber's explanations of the sociology behind them, I've long been interested in the connections between similar themes and plots from different cultures and in the lessons sometimes imparted. But until recently I had found very few, if any, practical applications.

However, last week I was washing my oldest son's hair and he said "Tell me a story." Now, for an avid reader and a former children's librarian this shouldn't have been too difficult a request, but keep in mind it was the 8,739th time I'd been asked that week alone and it needed to be a good story because my son does NOT like being shampooed. He has the same irrational but intense fear of getting water in his eyes that I had at his age. So I told him the following story:

Once upon a time there was a little boy who didn't like to have his hair washed. He would kick and fidget and worry and make it take longer than it would have otherwise. So one day his daddy gave him a shampoo rock. The little boy would hold the rock while he was getting a shampoo. He would feel the bumps and ridges on it and name all the colors he could see on it and wonder about all the places it had been and before he knew it the shampoo would be over. AND if you're very good and listen to Mommy and Daddy at [my cousin]'s wedding I'll see if I can find a shampoo rock for YOU too.

After a long and dangerous search (OK, I looked out the back door), lo and behold I did manage to find a shampoo rock for him and so far it has worked exactly as advertised. It may not end up being happily ever after, but I am grateful all that time spent reading folk stories wasn't wasted.