Princess Mi-Ah and her animal friends

Princess Mi-Ah, why are you crying?

Because….  I’m afraid.

Of what?

Of ghosts.

Oh….

But if I have all of my animals with me…. My pink pony, my yellow dog, my green turtle…. all in my bed, then I’m not alone am I?

No, you’re not.  You’ve got a lot of friends and family their with with you.

Okay, then I’m not alone.  I’m not so scared then. 

Good!  A kiss good night?

Yes.  Good night!

Bedtime Story: Princess Mi-Ah is afraid to sleep alone

Once upon a time there was a beatiful princess.  Her name was Princess Mi-Ah.  Princess Mi-Ah lived on a castle on top of a hill.  The hill was covered with flowers.  And Princess Mi-Ah loved flowers…

Each night, mother stayed with Princess Mi-Ah until she stayed asleep.  And every night when Princess Mi-Ah would wake up, she would get mother until she fell asleep again. 

After a while, mother told Princess Mi-Ah.  “Mi-Ah, you’re a big princess now.  It’s time to sleep alone.”

Princess Mi-Ah didn’t like hearing that at all.  She cried and she cried until her mother couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m sorry, but I just cannot stay with you.  I really cannot!” said mother.

“But you must!  I’m afraid!  The shadows will get me!  The dragon will eat me up!” cried out Princess Mi-Ah.

“I see…” said mother.   Mother was silent for a minute as Princess Mi-Ah continued to sniffle and wipe the tears that were on her cheeks. 

Then she said, “Then you will not sleep alone, if that is what you want.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you!”  Princess Mi-Ah went back under her blanket.

“But it will not be me.  Wait here”.  Mother left her room.

Princess Mi-Ah and the Ten Snakes

Mi-Ah is learning to count.  She is so impatient (ok, I admit she gets this form me) she doesn’t want to study the figures and remember them.  Not surprisingly to me, the teacher told me she loves games involving fantasy but not the educational ones.  So I tried to be creative and weave at least a lot of counting into this story. 

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess.  Her name was Princess Mi-Ah.  Princess Mi-Ah lived in a castle on top of a hill.  The hill was covered with flowers.  Princess Mi-Ah loved flowers…

Speaking was too much effort in the hot weather, so Princess Mi-Ah and Prince Boerie walked in a dull silence.  When they spotted a well the broke into a run. 

Prince Boerie quickly lowered the bucket into the water as Princess Mi-Ah stood waiting with the large metal dipper.  As soon as the filled bucket was in reach, she leaned forward for some water.  Some water was sloshed over the edge of the bucket.

“Hey, watch it!” said Prince Boerie as he watched her greedily slurped the water.

“Okay, it’s your turn,” said Princess Mi-Ah as she held out the dipper.

Children’s Story: Princess Mi-Ah doesn’t want to sleep alone (another version)

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess.  Her name was Princess Mi-Ah.  Princess Mi-Ah lived in a castle on top of a hill.  The hill was covered with flowers.  Princess Mi-Ah loved flowers….

“I know you’re afraid, Princess Mi-Ah, but it’s something that all big princesses do.  You want to be a big princess, right?”  asked mother.

“Yes, I do.  But why do I have to sleep alone?  I’m afraid.”  Princess Mi-Ah was sitting on her princess bed in her pajamas.  Outside the stars were out and the moon was a huge creamy ball in the black sky.

Princess Mi-Ah crawled under the blanket and snuggled into her soft princess pillow.  “Please can you tell me a story?  One about the dragon that eats the princess?  I like that one a lot!” 

“Okay, but then afterwards, I would like you to try to sleep alone,” said mother.

“No!  Don’t go!”  Tears started to form in her eyes.  She sat up in bed and held mother tight.

Children’s Story: Princess Mi-Ah and the Binnibon

Mi-Ah has been driving us crazy with her whining and attention seeking.  I know this is the age where she needs to testing us, but…. It’s AWFUL!  So this is my inspiration for this one.  After annoying the hell out of everyone else, she gets a magical creature, a Binnibon that annoys the hell out of her.  A dose of her own medicine.  Although I haven’t had a chance to tell this story to Mi-Ah yet because she keeps falling asleep before I get a chance.  She’ s phasing out her afternoon naps now…

Once upon a time there was a beatiful princess.  Her name was Princess Mi-Ah.  Princess Mi-Ah lived on a castle on top of a hill.  The hill was covered with flowers.  Princess Mi-Ah loved flowers…

Princess Mi-Ah and mother were walking along the shops in the village.  One of her favorite dress shops was coming up.  As they walked by, she peered into the window.  “Can we take a look inside?  Please?”

“Okay, but only to look.  We are not buying any dresses today.  Alright?”  said mother as they stood in front of the shop.

“Yes, okay!”  When her mother opened the door, she dashed inside.  She was in heaven with all of the beautiful frilly party dresses.  A pink one with pink fluffly flowers and trouncy skirts.  A purple and green one with a swishy skirt.  A light blue one with long see-through sleeves and sparkly little jewels all over.  But the one she liked the most was on a special stand, higher than the others.  It was a red one with short puffy sleeves, with a long, flowing full skirt.  It was all in a beautiful shiny red satin.  When she touched it, it felt smooth and slippery. 

“Ohhhh…. It’s beautiful.”  She looked at mother.  ”Mother!  I really want this one!”

“Princess Mi-Ah, we already agreed we were only going to look today.  No buying,” said mother. 

“Oh, but it would be so lovely on her,” said the shop keeper.  Mother glared at her.

“But, mother!  I love it!  I have to have it!”

Children’s Story: Princess Mi-Ah and the Mean Giant

No, the mean giant isn’t who you think it is.  It’s not Golum, but someone else.  There’s some violence in here, but it actually wasn’t my idea, but Mi-Ah’s.  I was a bit hesitant about it at first, but decided to try it out.  It may be a bit too much for her age of 3.5, but she enjoyed it and she’s not some psycopath torturing small animals.  When I was a teenager and in my 20′s, I loved horror novels.  Maybe she’s going to end up like me?  Hope not!  :O)  Read on.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess.  Her name was Princess Mi-Ah.  Princess Mi-Ah lived in a castle on top of a hill.  The hill was covered with flowers.  Princess Mi-Ah loved flowers…

She adored the doll she was holding.  It had a pink dress, and its hair and eyes were the same dark brown as hers.  She even knew what she would call it.  Taloosha.  She also knew Mother and Father would say she already had so many dolls, but she didn’t care.  She just had to have it! 

Prince Boerie was next to her looking at some bizarre-looking wooden puzzles.  He had taken one apart and the merchant was getting angry because it was a hard one to put back together.  Mother and Father were looking at grown-up stuff, of course.  Things like writing paper and huge books.  How boring!

Suddenly everyone stopped what they were doing to watch a villager running through the village market, screaming his head off.  “Run away!  Save yourselves!”

Children’s Story: Princess Mi-Ah and the Invitation

Golum is back.  He is a recurring character since Mi-Ah loves to hear about this big scary guy.  The next story is going to be about him too.  What do you think of this one?  Is it fun?  Do you think your child would enjoy hearing it?

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess.  Her name was Princess Mi-Ah.  Princess Mi-Ah lived in a castle on top of a hill.  The hill was covered with flowers.  Princess Mi-Ah loved flowers….

 Prince Boerie ran into the room breathless.  “You’re not going to believe this!  Come outside and take a look!”  He yanked at Princess Mi-Ah’s sleeve.  She dropped her book on the floor and ran after him.

Just outside the castle, she saw that the guards were standing ready with their swords and spears.  The King and Queen also came to take a look.  Everyone looked nervous.  Then she heard it too.  THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP. 

“Golum the Giant coming here?  To the castle?  What in the world is he doing here?” said Princess Mi-Ah.  So no wonder everyone was on edge.  While it was already known that Golum liked to eat food now instead of humans, everyone was still frightened of him.  After all, he was a giant.

Children’s Story: Princess Mi-Ah and the deep hole

(or Princess Mi-Ah and the baby elephant)

Mi-Ah came up with this title and the baby elephant idea.  I couldn’t think of a name for the  baby elephant so she came up with its name as well.  Clearly a tie to Dumbo on the elephant thing (it can fly, but with wings instead of big ears).  It wasn’t something I would’ve come up with on my own, but I still had fun helping her develop the plot. 

In fact, she has been coming up with more ideas on her own.  Another title she came up with was ‘Princess Mi-Ah has nothing (or no toys)’.  We’ll be working that one together soon.

This is story is about overcoming fear and developing confidence.  It’s also about helping others.

There once was a beautiful princess.  Her name was Princess Mi-Ah.  She lived in a castle on top of a hill.  The hill was covered with flowers.  Princess Mi-Ah loves flowers…

Princess Mi-Ah and Prince Boerie were in the flower meadow catching as many butterflies as they could.  They each held a net in their hand and there was a large basket nearby to hold the caught butterflies.  They were having so much fun running around after them.  So far, Princess Mi-Ah had caught (I ask her how many.  Mi-Ah counts to whatever number she chooses) and Prince Boerie caught (again, I ask her how many).  They were doing this to help out Gardener who was building a new section in the Royal Garden that was going to be especially for butterflies.

Then they heard a tiny voice crying out.  “Help me!  Help me!  I can’t get out of here!  Can someone hear me?”  They dropped their nets and moved closer to where the voice was coming from.  “Help!  Please, someone help me!” the voice cried out again.

Children’s Story: Princess Mi-Ah doesn’t want to sleep alone

(or Princess Mi-Ah and the Vasril Dragon)

Are there more of you parents out there that share this situation? Mi-Ah is terrified of sleeping alone. I asked her why, and she said she was afraid of thunderstorms. While it does rain here often, thunderstorms are infrequent. I remember being afraid of them when I was a kid, but only as they were happening, not afraid of the possibility of them happening.

We’ve tried every method we could get our hands on to get her to sleep on her own. But we’re softies so we’ve resorted to staying with her until she falls asleep every night. Less pain for her, thus less pain for us. I can just hear all of you parents out there tsking away, thinking how weak we are. Well we are. Especially ME. I can’t deal with either of our children crying for too long.

So since I’ve been writing the Princess Mi-Ah stories, the sleeping problem came up as an interesting theme. The result is this story.

I wanted a magical creature that would help her feel safe during sleep. At the toyshop, I looked at the stuffed animals and spotted this stuffed dragon. It obviously fit in with the princess/castle theme so I worked it into the story. She was delighted with the dragon when I showed it to her in the middle of the story, but well, it wasn’t as much of a hit as I hoped. Too bad!

This is, by far, the longest  Princess Mi-Ah story I’ve written. But also the only one where I thoroughly worked out the plot in advance.  What do you think of it?

 

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. Her name was Princess Mi-Ah. Princess Mi-Ah lived in a castle on top of a hill. The hill was covered with flowers. Princess Mi-Ah loves flowers….

Princess Mi-Ah was in tears. “But I don’t want to sleep alone! I’m afraid! One of you has to stay with me! What if there’s a thunderstorm?”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of! There is no thunderstorm! The sky’s perfectly clear!” The King was becoming exasperated. “Your room and this castle are very safe, even if there is a storm. Nothing can happen. I promise.”

“Noooooo! I don’t want to sleep alone! I CAN’T sleep alone!” wailed Princess Mi-Ah, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“SIGH… Okay. I’ll stay with you again tonight. But tomorrow, I would like you to visit Aldar the Old. Maybe he can help you with your sleeping situation.” The King lay down to sleep on a mattress near Princess Mi-Ah’s bed.

 

The next morning, Princess Mi-Ah set off for the Red Tower where Aldar the Old locked himself away with his many, many books. It was called the Red Tower because it had reddish-toned stones that were used to fix the tower, but this was a long, long time ago. Before she was even born.

Aldar the Old was famous throughout the kingdom as a wise, wise man. He had spent his whole lifetime studying all of his ancient books. He had thousands of books in his study and knew what was inside of them all. Many came to visit him for far away lands, whether it had to do with the politics or treating serious illnesses. Princess Mi-Ah’s problem should be a easy to solve compared to those more difficult situations. At least one would hope so.

Children’s Story: Princess Mi-Ah and the Giant Spider

The scary stories continue.  These are the only types she seems to like now.  In the beginning, I thought I should keep the stories mild in nature, but she finds those so boring now.  And frankly, I find those ‘nice’ stories boring myself.  I guess these kids are smarter than we give them credit for sometimes.  They know when you are holding back the good stuff.

DEAR READER, what do you think?  Would love to hear your feedback regarding suitability of this story or the ‘Dark Forest’ one for your child.  I enjoyed Harry Potter, and found those pretty ‘scary’ too, albeit those are not meant for small children.  I don’t find mine any less scary.  Your thoughts?

I was struggling awhile with the plot for this particular story.  I knew I wanted to write about a big spider, but wasn’t sure what would happen once Princess Mi-Ah and the spider met.  Okay, obviously she gets scared, but then what?  What lesson could I teach here?  So yes, the spider is scary and evil.  But despite this, Princess Mi-Ah learns about empathy, believe it or not.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess.  Her name was Princess Mi-Ah.  Princess Mi-Ah lived in a castle on top of a hill.  The hill was covered with flowers.  Princess Mi-Ah loves flowers….

They were playing on the floor, on a soft thick rug.  Princess Mi-Ah was assembling a puzzle of a large dragon spewing flames and smoke.  Prince Boerie was playing with a wooden toy horse that was pulling along a small wooden cart. 

As Princess Mi-Ah was laying down some puzzle pieces that brought her close to the wall, she accidentally knocked her elbow against it.  POP!  A hidden panel in the wall suddenly swung open!  They looked at it, and then at each other, in complete shock.

They stood up to take a closer look, and found themselves peering down a dark stairway.  A glowing green flame encased within a glass lantern hung on the wall.  What kind enchanted fire was this?  To burn green instead of the usual red and orange and yellow flames?

“Oooh!  It looks very scary!  What do you think…  Do we go in or not?” asked Prince Boerie.

“Well….  Secret doors are always meant to hide something special.  But what?” wondered Princess Mi-Ah out loud.  “I say we go!”  She grabbed the lantern and her brother’s hand, and they stepped inside together.