[freedomlover]

I never quite understood the logic of scaring the s#$% out of your children just before they went to sleep.

Maybe it was the only way they thought they could get their brats to ST%U.

Or maybe it was a German thing (ducking)

[null and void]

That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger...

[discostu]

Lessons learned with fear stick better.

[j. earl carter]

The stories were not originally intended for children. The Grimm's collected the stories as an academic undertaking. They were trying to document the tales as part of the history of German speaking people.

There was also a political motivation. The brothers were part of a movement to unite the German states into a republic. The tales were meant to give German people a sense of a shared culture.

Only later did the tales come to be thought of as bedtime stories.

[Vince Ferrer]

I never quite understood the logic of scaring the s#$% out of your children just before they went to sleep.

It was a tougher world, and the stories helped teach kids what not to do, like run off into the woods, because bad things can happen. Pinocchio skipped school, and was kidnapped and sent to an island to be a slave. I kind of think we disneyfy children's stories too much these days. Our kids only learn to whine until they get the toys associated with the movies.

[BlackAdderess]

I think it’s a “go to bed and stay in bed” thing, as well as a “don’t talk to strangers” thing. The last thing you want is the rugrats getting into everything in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep.

Baba Yaga is in a similar vein and she’s Russian.

[Borges]

They weren’t intended for kids. They were a collection of European folk tales.