ONCE UPON A TIME----
My mother told me the story of the Little Red Hen. Over and over again, because I loved it. "Who will help me plant the wheat/harvest the wheat/mill the wheat/bake the bread, etc?" And all the Little Red Hen's friends in the barnyard say, "Not I!", so the Little Red Hen declares, "Then I'll do it myself!" AND SO SHE DID, Mama and I repeated. Over and over again. Until the bread is hot from the oven, dripping with butter and jam, and then, of course, the Cat, the Pig, the Dog, et al, say "I will, I will!" when she asks who will help her EAT the bread. So the LRH shares with all the deadbeats in the barnyard and they're all full and friendly, and they all lived happily ever after, THE END.
Now, there's another possible ending to this story, one I always longed for:
Plucky Little Red tells them to make their own damn bread and she and her cute baby chicks have a big old buttery feast. My mother, having been raised Christian, didn't tell it that way. Today I understand why she emphasized the self-reliance and generosity of the LRH-- she knew that I was born neither self-reliant nor generous. But I can't help wondering how parents tell the story these days. If they do. (BTW, AndSoSheDid is the name of my occasional production company.)
My mother told me the story of the Little Red Hen. Over and over again, because I loved it. "Who will help me plant the wheat/harvest the wheat/mill the wheat/bake the bread, etc?" And all the Little Red Hen's friends in the barnyard say, "Not I!", so the Little Red Hen declares, "Then I'll do it myself!" AND SO SHE DID, Mama and I repeated. Over and over again. Until the bread is hot from the oven, dripping with butter and jam, and then, of course, the Cat, the Pig, the Dog, et al, say "I will, I will!" when she asks who will help her EAT the bread. So the LRH shares with all the deadbeats in the barnyard and they're all full and friendly, and they all lived happily ever after, THE END.
Now, there's another possible ending to this story, one I always longed for:
Plucky Little Red tells them to make their own damn bread and she and her cute baby chicks have a big old buttery feast. My mother, having been raised Christian, didn't tell it that way. Today I understand why she emphasized the self-reliance and generosity of the LRH-- she knew that I was born neither self-reliant nor generous. But I can't help wondering how parents tell the story these days. If they do. (BTW, AndSoSheDid is the name of my occasional production company.)
