By way of telling this story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf in this way, we illustrate  that everyone can change their bad habits and turn them to good habits. Just look at the Big Bad Wolf - he is no longer a bully, but instead is kind, thoughtful and a good care-taker. Little Red, like other children, has a problem listening carefully, with following directions, and with staying focused - as we see when she wanders off the side walk and gets on the dirt path and goes the wrong way to Grandmother's house. She forgets to be thoughtful to her friends and family - as seen when she is not the least bit concerned that she is running late to get to Grandmother's house and really doesn't seem to care when she arrives to find her Grandmother and Wolf so worried. And she waits to the end to say "I am sorry" - it just doesn't enter her mind that she has caused others to worry. However , she is a sweet little girl and people like to be with her. Her family loves her so much and they are patiently teaching her the Lessons that are so important to learn as a child. Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck are such wonderful examples of the people in our lives who always stand by us, try to protect us making the wrong choices, and love us unconditionally. By the end of this story, we are all hopeful that Little Red will learn the "6 Going to Grandmother's House Lessons to Remember" and will try to live by them, because they will guide her to a successful life as a teenager and adult. 

 

The Story

Little Red Riding Hood, Wolf, Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck

and

The Lessons Learned on the Way to Grandmother’s House

 

    There once was a little girl who always wore a red cape with a red hood, so everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood. One day her mother gave her a basket of home made cakes to take to her Grandmother who lived deep in the woods. Grandmother was not feeling well and Little Red was taking her some cakes Little Red’s mother had made for her – to cheer her up, you know.

 

Little Red’s mother talked to her about the “Going to Grandmother’s House Lessons to Remember” that they had talked about every time Little Red went to visit Grandmother.

 

These are the “6 Going to Grandmother’s House Lessons to Remember”:

1.   Walk on the side walk.

2.   Do not go through the forest.

3.   Stay close to your friends – Wolf, Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck.

4.   Call me on your cell phone when you arrive at Grandmother’s house.

5.   Be kind to Grandmother.

6.  Get to Grandmother’s house before dark.

 

Little Red promised her Mother that she would follow these rules and she set off for Grandmother’s house with Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck. They were going to meet Wolf at the traffic light down the street.

 

So out the door they went, with the basket of cakes on Little Red’s arm.

 

Everything was going just fine until they met Wolf at the traffic light. Instead of going straight down the street that took them straight to Grandmother’s house, Little Red turned to the left and headed toward the green grass where there was a patch of beautiful flowers blooming. When Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck warned her that she had stepped off the side walk, Little Red told that she wanted to take flowers to Grandmother. AND after she went right on picking the flowers just as though she had not heard them. She put the flowers in her basket, THEN she continued walking in the green grass ---- straight toward the forest.

 

Well, you can be sure that Buzzy Bee started buzzing around her head and Baby Duck started quacking and Wolf started to howl. But, no, Little Red did not pay any attention to them. She just kept going straight to the forest. Straight to the forest that was beginning to look a little dark and scary to her friends.

 

You can be sure that Little Red had forgotten everything her mother had said to her.

 

Wolf was very worried and he started running straight into the woods and did not stop running until he arrived at Grandmother’s house. He knocked on the door and when Grandmother opened the door he told her that Little Red was not following her Mother’s rules and that he was afraid she was going to get caught in the dark forest and get into trouble.

 

Grandmother was so worried, but there was nothing they could do – so they sat in the kitchen and waited and waited and waited for Little Red, Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck to arrive.

 

Grandmother lived deep in the woods and did not have a phone, so she could not call Little Red on the cell phone that was in the basket that was hanging on Little Red’s arm. If Grandmother had a phone, she could call to check to see if she was alright.

 

Grandmother said she was so sorry that she did not have a cell phone like Little Red had in her basket so that she could call Little Red to check on her. Wolf told her that he would go out the very next day and buy a cell phone for her and bring it right back to her at her house that was deep in the forest.

 

You know, Wolf loved Grandmother a lot.

 

Grandmother said “thank you, Wolf”. And they just sat there waiting and waiting and waiting…..

 

It was getting dark. It was getting cold outside. It was looking scary outside. It was not good for Little Red to be out at this time of the evening.

 

FINALLY, Grandmother and Wolf heard a buzzing sound and a quacking sound and they ran outside to the porch ---- AND there they were ---- coming up the path with Little Red leading the way. Poor Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck were so afraid. But Little Red was just skipping along with not a thought in her mind that she had done all of the wrong things.

 

Well, it all ended well, but you can be sure that Little Red got in a lot of trouble when she called her Mother on the cell phone and told her that she had arrived. She did not think to mention how late it was, how dark the forest was, how afraid Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck were, how Wolf had run ahead to tell Grandmother that she was not following the “Rules” – BUT – mother heard Buzzy Bee, Baby Duck, Wolf and Grandmother all calling out to tell her that Little Red did not follow the “Rules”!!! So now mother knew everything.

 

When her Mother asked her why she did not follow the “Rules”, Little Red said she just forgot. She did not even say she was sorry, but Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck called out to the Mother that they were very, very sorry….that they tried to tell Little Red to stay on the side walk, but that she just picked flowers and skipped along and did not pay any attention to them. Wolf called out that he had run to Grandmother’s house to tell her that Little Red was not listening to them.

 

Well, Grandmother was so happy that everything was alright and she love Little Red, Wolf, Buzzy Bee and Baby Duck so much that she turned on the light in the kitchen and asked Little Red to pour the purple juice while she took the cakes out of the basket. Grandmother just smiled and said, “Let’s have a You Are Here Party”.

 

Everyone sat at the table, Grandmother in the big chair, Little Red in the little chair, Wolf on the bench, Buzzy Bee on the flower in the vase in the center of the table, and Baby Duck on the bucket by the window. They all loved the cakes Little Red’s Mother had made for Grandmother and they just sat there and sipped the delicious red juice Grandmother had prepared earlier in the day.

 

What a wonderful party they had!

 

Because it had gotten so late, Grandmother asked Little Red and her friends to spend the night with her and go home the next morning after breakfast. Little Red called her mother and asked if they could stay the night and mother said, “How nice for Grandmother to invite you to stay and be sure to say thank you for a lovely  time when you leave in the morning”.

 

Just so you know….before Little Red hung up her cell phone, she told her mother that she was very sorry for not listening to her and for not following the “Rules”.

 

NOW THAT IS THE END OF THE STORY

BUT

I HAVE A FEW “DID YOU LISTEN CAREFULLY?” QUESTIONS