Centralmaine.com

Every other Sunday, I write about the lessons of motherhood, the heartache and the happiness of parenting, and the special circumstances of doing it solo.

Dear Annie: My wife and I are both 30 and have been married for five years. We have a toddler.

Folk tales like Little Red Riding Hood have been part of everyone’s childhood since the 14th century. The stories taught lessons. Red Riding Hood originally was the story of a young girl going into dark woods filled with dangers. In these early tales, the girl met an ogre or a werewolf who eats the grandmother and lures the girl into bed. But she escapes using her wits (no huntsman was there to save her). By the 17th century, the many versions of the story told of a young country girl meeting a wolf and telling him about her grandmother’s house. The wolf is then able to eat Grandma and the girl. The tale reminds young girls of the dangers of following the advice of strangers. Through the years, the story became a morality tale warning about strange men. But by the 1800s, the story had Grandma and Red Riding Hood outwitting the fox and being saved by a hunter. Still later, the tale represented the views of Freud and feminists. Today the tale is often reworked as satire or comedy. Through all the years, pictures and figurines depicting Red Riding Hood have remained popular. In the 19th century, Staffordshire potters made dozens of figures of the girl with or without Grandma or the wolf. Try collecting things related to a single folk tale or nursery rhyme.