WHEN A Kunghur father’s son refused to sleep for more than 15-minutes straight, he got desperate for solutions and started telling stories to try to help his child get some shut eye.
Twelve years and thousands of stories later, Marc Mittag launched a unique subscription-based story telling website with the aim of helping other parents struggling with not only sleep issues, but all the challenges that come with raising happy children.
“Back then, as a first-time dad, I had no idea what I was doing but I knew I wanted to share what I had learned about life with my child,” he said.
“Then I realised I couldn’t preach to a one year old about the world.
“Because he had such trouble sleeping, I started by telling him stories about a little joey who couldn’t sleep.
“The best way for the joey to learn to sleep was to go and ask someone who was the best sleeper in the world; that was old man koala.
“So, the idea of that story was for him to get tips on how to get to sleep but also to learn that if you want to achieve something new, you can model yourself on someone who has already achieved what you are trying to do.
That story worked so well for Marc’s young son that he has been telling him a different story every night of his life since he was one.
“He is now 12 years old,” he said.
“I tell him a different story every night related to what he needs to hear or be supported through.
“Because I tell the stories at the end of the day, because I’m not lecturing him, because he gets to experience these characters making mistakes, failing and making good; he gets to go on their journey and when he faces challenges he has a positive reference point through the stories.
“It’s almost like it’s not the first time he’s dealt with the problems because he’s seen the characters in the story deal with something similar.”
Encouraged by the positive effect these stories had on his son, Marc started telling stories to his nieces and nephews and his son’s friends who were going through difficult times.
“Eventually people said, can we buy these stories, can you record them?” he said.
“It took me maybe five years before I saw the bigger vision of what I was doing and that has now grown into our motto which is, Changing the World One Story at a Time.
“As a life coach I have spent years working with adults on their relationships, businesses and on wealth creation but then I realised that by the time we become adults we almost have to unlearn a whole bunch of unhealthy habits, before we can make meaningful changes.
“As I developed my life coaching business I realised that I could connect with people and guide them to a healthier place closer to their dreams and I could do it through the power of stories.
“Just blurting out a heap of facts and theories isn’t interesting, and you can’t relate but wrapped up in a story you can take it on almost straight away.”
“Stories have the ability to let people go through feelings without having to experience them,” he said.
“That’s why I think it’s important to try to tell a story that not only engages but lets the audience feel something.
“These stories are designed to slowly and gently develop a child’s self-esteem, self-worth, emotional management and awareness, communication skills and life skills,” Marc said.
Marc said he decided on a subscription model, so the stories could form part of children’s nightly bedtime routine which enables them to have positive messages reinforced. Also, because the stories are audio, Marc said, parents can turn out the lights to prepare their children for a restful sleep.
“There is no sarcasm, violence or other cheap dramatic tools,” he said.
“They are engaging and fun and kids giggle their way through the stories, getting out the last of their energy, before the stories slow down to prepare them for sleep.
“The biggest feedback we are receiving at the moment is from parents of children who are dealing with anxiety, low self-esteem and a lack of confidence.
“They are seeing a turnaround within a week; it’s incredible and the best part of it is that although the change happens quickly, this isn’t a quick fix that will later unravel, these stories are there to support them ongoing.
“We all grow and change, and our children, like us, face new challenges constantly.
“These stories go with them on that journey and are appropriate for children from six months to 12 years old or more.”
Parents with teenagers are also keen to start trialling Marc’s stories.
“For some early teens or tweens these stories are appropriate but for others we are looking at developing stories that are more engaging for an older age group; that will come later,” he said.
Extraordinarily Marc doesn’t write the stories before reading them out.
“I just sit down, get in the right headspace and tell the story.
“After twelve years, it’s like I’m an Olympic storyteller now,” he laughed.
“The parents are also realising that the lessons in the stories are useful for all stages of life.
“I am getting emails from parents telling me they are getting as much out of the stories as their children are.
“I even got a message from one parent saying that one of the stories had changed their life.”
“At the moment we are offering the first month free, to readers of The Weekly, to help families with young children test it out to see if it works for their family.
“You get five stories a week as well as the opportunity to connect with other like-minded parents through our Facebook members group.
“You know those parents are on the same page and you get all of that for the price of one cup of coffee a week.
“There are no contracts, so you can come and go as you please.”
For every new subscriber this month, Marc will be donating a subscription to a family who through poverty, trauma or illness, needs extra support.
For more information go to: happyhappystories.com and type in the code HAPPYTWEED to access your free month.