a ladder goes both ways

have you heard of the woman who was trying to get her cow to go up a ladder to eat the grass growing on her roof.. instead of just cutting the grass and throwing it down for the cow to eat.. she found it easier to get the cow up so she tied a string round the cow's neck, passed it down the chimney, and fastened it to her own wrist, so the cow won't fall off without her knowing it.. and they both died.. the cow strangled by the string round her neck.. and the woman smothered in the chimney by the weight of the cow..

or of the man who spent hours trying to wear his trousers by hanging them on the knobs of the chest of drawers and trying to jump over and over into them.. instead of simply wearing them..

or of the villagers who tried to rake the moon out of the pond.. refusing to believe that it was only a shadow..

really silly and funny stories.. and we are all doing these things at some point or another.. taking ourselves equally seriously.. in all our superstitions.. dogmas.. conditioning.. at times unable to adapt to change.. nor educate ourselves..

enough to know children don't need to climb that 'ladder'.. we are destroying their childhood and our pleasure in experiencing it through them.. enough to see in their simple answers how complicated we have made our lives.. enough to really look at our children.. not the 'reflection' we want to see of them..