Bo and I were playing with dinosaur cars this morning. More specifically, we were playing with these dinosaur cars (thanks Aunt Linda!):

As we were playing, I involuntarily started roaring. You know, because dinosaurs roar.

Or do they? 

In that moment I realized, for the first time, that I have no idea if dinosaurs actually roar. I just think they do because of every children’s book about dinos I’ve ever read, and the movie Jurassic Park.  

Who knows, maybe they chirped or yelped. Maybe they even chortled from time to time. Perhaps some paleontologist has a good conjecture about it. But I for damn sure haven’t read a book or scientific paper on dinosaur sounds. 

Without knowing it, the stories I’ve heard about dinosaurs have dramatically influenced how I play with my son.

I learned an important lesson today: it’s really important to have trust in the storytellers to whom we lend our ears. If we are a storyteller - and we all are to someone at some point - we ought to be a trustworthy one, too.