Introduction
“Write what you know about.”
~ Mark Twain
We live in challenging times. Our daily lives as parents can be complex, demanding and sometimes wildly busy. Allow me to make three assumptions we likely share. We love our kids, we have a story to tell and we want to pass it on to them. Passing wisdom and experience from generation to generation is at the very heart of good storytelling as well as parenting. If you want to deepen your relationship with your kids and are willing to invest a few minutes a day in doing so, you’ve come to the right place.
I know how to tell bedtime stories and have been doing so nightly with my three kids for over a decade. This book will show you how and why to tell the stories of your life and family to your children or grandchildren. Each chapter shares insights and techniques that I have developed in my own storytelling and is followed by stories that I have told to my children. Telling stories will bring you closer to your kids and open up your communication with them as they grow older. And if you’re like me, that’s something you want. Take a look at the first chapter and you’ll get a good idea of where we’re headed.
Before We Say “Goodnight” will show you how to tell great bedtime stories to your children, which they will never forget. I’m not talking about reading them a story, though that’s a good idea. I’m talking about telling them the stories of your life and family, one night at a time. Intimidating, impossible, boring, you say? Well, it is possible, a lot of fun and you can do it. As you’ll see throughout the book, there are many benefits to doing so. You’ll improve their vocabulary, listening and comprehension skills, for instance, and you’ll do it without even trying. But don’t feel that you have to tell a story every night. That’s entirely up to you.
“Hank Frazee’s book is right on point with current research that the environment shapes human brain development. Parents telling stories is precisely what helps children to become better people.”
~ Elizabeth M. Kolve, MTF, Psy.D.
In this book, you’ll discover an easy-to-learn three-step method to turn your life experiences, and those of your family, into great bedtime stories. You’ll also discover the many reasons why telling bedtime stories can be a terrific part of your life with your children. Rest assured, this book is not about telling one long and endlessly dull story of your family history. It’s about how to tell new and entertaining stories each night, in any order you want, about your life and family experiences.
You’ll learn why you’ll never run out of stories to tell, using Story Prompting, a technique I invented for my own storytelling. This method requires no notes or preparation and is easy to learn. Once you’ve read Before We Say “Goodnight,” it can be used as a helpful reference or shared with family and friends, for their own storytelling adventures. Tell your stories. Your kids want to hear them.
