I have to admit that I love watching television shows like Grimm and Once Upon A Time that feature some of the classic fairy tales I grew up reading as a child. They were stories about faeries and dragons and plenty of damsels in distress.

Many of the books I read as a child were watered down versions of the originals. In a Disney world, everyone has a happy ending. In the old days, the tales were cautionary and had more of the Boogeyman treatment. Mermaids didn't end up with the prince and instead get turned into sea foam and people routinely died.

I suggest that as adults you go to your local library and take out some of the uncut fairy tales and find out what really happened to not only the bad guys, but also the unfortunate endings of our heroes. These tales were created during much harsher times when a child's safety was as much dependent on the fear of what might happen to them as the actions of the parents.

These tales wouldn't cut the mustard nowadays. We live in a world of political correctness and shelter our children from everything. Television shows like Grimm are shedding a more truthful light on fairy tales, but it's still a far cry from the originals. When the brothers Grimm put their tales together, they would more likely keep you up at night rather than put you to sleep. Don't take my word for it. Read the originals and see if the Big Bad Wolf won't be lurking under your bed.