Curative stories are gentle, personalized stories that can be used to influence, guide, or even change a child’s behavior. I try to use these stories when I’m struggling with a specific behavior, such as Katherine using her loud, shrill voice when she is two inches from my ear, or Clara’s refusal to share the green play-dough.
The stories involve an animal who leads an uncanny parallel life to that of the child. So far neither Katherine nor Clara has caught on to this… though they do make comments like, “Molly bunny’s favorite color is yellow - just like MY favorite color is yellow!”, or, “Anna bird is two and a half, and so am I!”. So at least I know they are relating to their better behaved counter parts. It’s hard to tell if the message gets through and actually makes a difference in their behavior, but at least it gives me a positive way to talk to them about whatever is driving me crazy. For example, when Katherine shrieks in my face, I can say, “Katherine, please use your quiet voice, just like Molly bunny does when she doesn’t want to wake up the whole forest”. This type of admonishment feels kinder than my typical reaction (“Quiet Katherine! Geez, you’re RIGHT next to me”), I don’t add to my own irritation with nagging (which is probably to Katherine what her shrill voice is to me), and I may even get a quiet, sweet voice… at least for a few minutes.
Here are the most recent Curative Stories I’ve written. (Please enjoy them, but do not copy or publish them without my permission.)
