My 3 year old son loves to hear stories every night.

We usually do bath, read for a bit, then I tell him a few stories before I (attempt) to put him down.. His story requests are always the same… trash trucks, fire trucks, construction equipment, going to the diner, his cousins, poop/pee…. you know 3 year old boy things.

I realized some of my stories were starting to be a bit repetitive. I also realized that there might be a way to use some of these stories as ways to teach him lessons about things he needs to work on (staying in his bed overnight, taking deep breaths when he is angry, that kind of thing).

AI to the rescue!

I wrote the below prompt, and my son was ENTHRALLED.

It was a story… starring him… that hit on all of his favorite themes!

He was HOOKED and made me read like five to him. I just said “what do you want this one to be about” and used his input to make the new one.

Such a cool use of AI! He gets great stories, about things he loves, and I get to reenforce some life lessons woven into the narrative!

Here was my prompt:

“Write a 300 word story that I can read out loud to my son Otto. He is the hero, and make the story about trash trucks. He is joined on the adventure by his cousins Rhi and Callan. The lesson I want him to learn is that when he is angry he needs to take deep breaths”.

Otto and the Great Trash Truck Adventure

Otto loved trash trucks more than anything. So when he spotted a shiny green trash truck with its back door open, he had to peek inside.

"Otto! Wait!" called his cousins Rhi and Callan, climbing in after him. Suddenly, the door slammed shut with a CLANG, and the truck rumbled to life!

"Don't panic," Otto said bravely. "I know everything about trash trucks."

The truck bounced through the city streets. Through a small window, they could see they weren't heading to the dump but to a strange warehouse.

"Look!" Rhi pointed to a glowing control panel. "Maybe this opens the door."

Otto rushed over and started jabbing buttons frantically. Nothing happened. He pressed harder, faster. Still nothing!

"Why won't it WORK?" Otto shouted, his face turning red. He kicked the truck wall. "This is STUPID! We're trapped!"

"Otto," Callan said gently, "remember what your mom says when you get angry?"

But Otto was too mad to listen. He kept banging the controls, getting angrier each second.

"Otto, you're the truck expert," Rhi said calmly. "But even experts need to stop and think. Let's take three big breaths together." She demonstrated, breathing in slowly through her nose, out through her mouth.

Otto didn't want to stop. But nothing was working, and his anger made his brain feel fuzzy.

"Come on," Callan encouraged. "One... two... three..."

Reluctantly, Otto joined them. As he breathed deeply, his shoulders relaxed. The red-hot anger cooled. After three breaths, his mind cleared.

"Wait," Otto said, studying the panel carefully this time. "These buttons make a pattern... like a truck diagram!" He pressed them in the right sequence.

WHOOSH! The door opened! They tumbled out safely as a worker appeared.

"You kids okay? This old truck's getting fixed today - it starts by itself sometimes!"

Walking home, Otto squeezed his cousins' hands. "Thanks for reminding me to breathe. When I'm angry, my brain stops working right. But those big breaths really helped."

"That's what cousins are for," Rhi smiled.

Sometimes I even take the whole story, and create illustrations (which he also loves)

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

P.S. Sagan continues to grow like a week. We aren’t perfect, but we try hard: