Dragons

"Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist.  Children already know the dragons exist.  Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."  -- G. K. Chesterton

I'd like to think I have equal parts rationality and imagination.  Certainly there are times when one outweighs the other.  If a family member is not home when they said they would be, the imagination takes over far too quickly.  Kirk would argue that when we play word games, the rationality is all too present.  But I think the need for both is equally present in our world.

As far as the kids go, I currently have one rational, one imaginative, and one redhead.

Adam is logic.  It oozes out of his skin.  He uses it to win arguments, to manipulate, to get from point A to point B.  It's a default setting from which he rarely strays.

Example:
Adam: Mom - Alex keeps repeating me!
Me: The best way to get him to stop repeating you is to just not talk.
Adam: No, if I don't talk, then he'll just be repeating me not talking.

Alex is imagination.  I've told these stories before.  Chocolate cake crumbs, in his mind, are brown sugar monsters.  Things that appear in our house were obviously wished for.  Lost shoes fly into outerspace; monsters exist.  And my little boy lives in a uncharted territory we call Alex-Land.

I worry about both kids, honestly.  Will Adam be able to develop enough imagination to be able to creatively problem solve?  Will Alex be able to cope in a reality-driven society?  Of course I think they'll both level off a bit as they get older, but as Mom, it's my job to prepare them.  

How fun to think that truly, fairy tales may be the answer.  Mr. Logical will easily grasp the allegory and could certainly benefit from the fun.  And for Mr. Imagination, perhaps he'd sleep better knowing he has the power to kill the dragons.