How to Train the Dragons Around Us
And in us, and everywhere else.
It is almost Halloween, and my littlest is going as the dragon that she truly is. We recently watched the live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon, and if you have never watched the original cartoon or the newer live-action version, go ahead and stop reading and head on over to whatever streaming network it is streaming on (it is Peacock, I just checked) and watch it. The live-action is pretty much the cartoon verbatim, which only works because the cartoon should have been live-action all along. Today’s CGI capabilities turn those somewhat adorable and goofy cartoon dragons into epic, memorable, fierce, and awe-inspiring beasts. Their ferocity has been seared into my brain…perhaps from the fire.
If you have watched it, what did you think? Did you like the cartoon or live-action better? This might be the only live-action adaptation that I prefer over the original cartoon, but I am curious what adaptations and second makings you have loved more than the originals?
After watching any movie, my kids like to pick the character they most identify with, and then we play the movie with them being their respective characters for the next week or eternity. After watching How to Train Your Dragon, my daughter told us who she wanted to play. Was it the fierce female Viking? It was not. Was it Toothless, the hero dragon? Some would think. But no. The character my daughter identified with and now wants to play is the mega-monster mother-of-all dragons, who enslaved all the other dragons and is basically evil incarnate. Should I be surprised?
Going along with the theme of dragons, we picked up a handful of dragon books at our wonderful local library. Though this isn’t the first time we have taken this particular book home, it is extra inspiring to me in this present moment, reminding me that even with kid lit, a book can come into your hands at just the right time to have a meaningful impact.
JUST ONE BOOK
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A DRAGON by Jack Kent
Billy Bixbee is surprised to wake one morning to discover a kitten-sized dragon at the foot of his bed. All day long, he tries to convince his mother that there is a dragon in the house, but his mother is hell bent on proving that there is no such thing as dragons. Every time the dragon gets ignored, the dragon grows just a bit bigger. Soon, the little beast has gotten so big that it has taken over the entire house. Whimsical and fun, this book has a message that is so subtle you may miss it entirely if you read it during a time when you aren’t thinking about the consequences of ignoring the dragon in the room. But when that concept is relevant, the solution provided by this adorable and quaint children’s book is impossibly simple: Acknowledge the dragon. That is it. You don’t have to fight it or slay it or even train it. Just stop ignoring its existence! If you do not acknowledge the dragon, it may end up carrying off your whole life.
The dragon can be so many things. Maybe it is a secret resentment that you are not communicating with your partner. Maybe you are struggling with a work deadline. Maybe it is the current political climate, and having awkward but necessary conversations. Maybe it is an element or personality trait in your child that you are trying to ignore out of existence. Maybe it is the bill that you haven’t paid, the phone call you haven’t made, the chore that keeps getting put on the back burner. Maybe it is the impossible task of pursuing fitness while being a full-time parent. Maybe the dragon is the voice inside that mom (or parent or caregiver) shames you every time you have to draw a hard line and your tiny human person is in their feels.
Whatever shape your dragon takes, you may feel it looming, growing larger, getting more oppressive the more you try to ignore it. When my dragons get too big, I want to eat nothing but sugar and sit on the couch reading another romance novel while ignoring my adult responsibilities (dragons). Although this approach can feel awesome for a while, and can provide a nice pause to catch your breath, be careful that the couch doesn’t get carried off by the giant dragon.
It is surprising how, in facing the dragon, it is often realized that our problems are so much smaller or more easily managed than our imaginations and fears made them out to be while we ignored them. You look over and realize it was a trick of the shadows; the dragon is just a kitten-sized thing after all. You can manage something that size! You feel the weight of everything lifting.
This isn’t to say that hard things aren’t hard, or that everything always works out in the end. I get it, we don’t live in those rom-coms I want to binge, no matter how much I want the world to be gumdrops and happy endings. Sometimes things just SUCK. And they stay sucky. Sometimes the dragon really is a very big dragon. But ignoring or denying its existence won’t make it go away. The first step is to take a look at it, acknowledge it, give it a name.
Even if it is the mother-of-all, terrifying fire-breathing hive queen red death dragon. As my 4-year-old explained, you will have to work extra hard to train this one.
Other excellent dragon books we have been enjoying as we method-act our way toward Halloween: There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight by Penny Parker Klostermann (yes, it is a dragon-themed remake of the classic). My kids love to chant the repeating refrain: “It’s not polite!” I Am a Dragon: A Squabble and a Quibble by Sabina Hahn will put a smile on your face as a whole swamp of frogs is not convinced that a dragon is a dragon. My littlest can relate as I often forget and call her by her human name. Rude.
Need more dragon content? Check out this post where I suggest other winning books about dragons.
Love you and all your fiercest dragons. If you know a dragon lover, or anyone who needs a pep talk on how to train (or acknowledge) their dragons, let them know about this newsletter.
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Keep reading great books, keep having all the fun, and see y’all soon. May all (or at least one) of your giant dragon problems turn into reasonably sized kitten dragons. Until next week!
I was so bored by the live-action version but you're right-- it's because it's the EXACT SAME. Word for word. We need one or the other, not both. I'm fine with either option!
I love that dragon metaphor. I believe we could probably get rid of the self-help section and just hang in the children's section? That is probably not a great thing for me to say as I write about self-help-y topics.