I know, I know

So I realize I'm a little late getting out of the gate, but as my title says, I'm getting there. I'll start off with a funny learning experience since this is the only way I can do this blogging thing without hating it or myself. So everyday at lunch I have started the practice of reading a folktale to the kids. It keeps them quiet and gets my nerd reader self excited to have others read.  I always pick the story and try to read it beforehand so as to avoid mishaps. As most of you know folktales and fairy tales weren't always the Disney version and my book has the classic versions of the stories. However most of the stories have avoided any gruesome details or odd phrases third graders don't need to hear.

Feeling secure in the book I therefore got relaxed in my judgement. Mistake number one.  I also allowed one of the students to pick a story to read. Mistake number two. She picked the story of Bluebeard. In the back of my mind i remembered something sketchy about the story but couldn't recall exactly so I figured it couldn't be too bad. The story tells of a creepy rich old man with a Bluebeard who can't find a wife because he's creepy, ugly, and no one knows what happened to his previous wives. The pretty young girl next door gives him the benefit of the doubt and marries him. When he goes away on business she has the run of the house but Bluebeard warns her not to open a particular door. We stopped reading just as she was about to open the door. That night i found  a video of the story which told that behind the door was Bluebeard's wives all turned to stone statues and that the young girl is saved before Bluebeard can do anything to his new wife and she lives happily ever after. Sounds innocent enough for eight year old's right?......

I reread were we left off the next day. I then quickly turn the page dramatically and glance at the sentences to come. There are no stone statues in this version. Instead, there is blood on the floor, blood on the walls and ceilings. The wives are corpses chained to the wall.... So what do I do as I stand there stupidly you may wonder? I let my English storytelling brain kick into overdrive as I quickly scream "and behind the door was...Bluebeard's previous wives! They had all been turned into stone statues!" I then spent the rest of the story making up half the lines in the old fashioned language of the story cutting out details too vulgar for the kids to hear or my teacher to see me presenting to the kids.

Long story...well long...never ever listen to your brain when it has one of those "well, what could happen" moments or else you'd best brush up on how Germans told their stories in the 1800's.