Status Anxiety

2 February 2008

The disturbing thing about fairy stories is that the father is always a useless weed

As a father of three small children, I find myself constantly baffled by what is known in our household as ‘the boredom paradox’. Why is it that my four-year-old daughter considers a trip to Loftus Road to watch QPR battle against relegation ‘boring’, while her enjoyment of the same six episodes of Numberjacks can never be diminished, no matter how many times she watches the DVD? The idea that small children are open-minded and imaginative is completely ridiculous. They resemble nothing so much as members of the provincial, middle-European bourgeoisie — petty little martinets who view any change in their routine as an act of unconscionable aggression. Men may be from Mars and women from Venus, but children are from Belgium.

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Gina Stepp

February 3rd, 2008 8:10am Report this comment

Toby, you should do what Eric B. Anderson is doing, and start your own series of children's books that depict fathers in a better light. The more the better! There's a link to Anderson's book here, but please let me know when you start yours: http://familymatters.vision.org/public/item/195983

Mark Sevier

February 6th, 2008 12:45am Report this comment

Mr. Young is a twit. He essentially blames the fathers in the fairy tales for being dead. Hansel & Gretel's father, admittedly, is a weak-willed willy, but he's one of the few who are actually alive during the tale.

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