Bedtime Story

There once was this sweet little family of boys. Graham was the oldest and therefore thought of himself as 'the boss'. Drew was the second, and was dubbed 'the family clown' because he loved to make everyone laugh. Jonah was the third out of four brothers and he loved to talk. He also admired his handsome Daddy and wanted anything that Daddy had. Noah was the youngest, and therefore the most docile of them all~he just kind of went along with what everyone else already thought of and was happy to do so. This one night it was getting later and later, and still all these little boys were just busy busy busily running around.

They were throwing homemade paper airplanes, they were running and chasing each other, they were scurrying to get ready for bed, only to race back down the stairs as they remembered to take their medicine. The youngest of the brothers was laying on the couch trying to convince Mommy and Daddy why it was a good idea for him to stay home from school the next day. They didn't 'buy' the story, but thought it was a great effort. And there the Mommy sat, so tired and exhausted that she only listened with one ear. Thankfully their Daddy sensed the Mommy's near cranky state and listened intently to every word being said.

It was late, and all the sweet little boys needed to be in bed, but the Mommy was dreading it. The two youngest brothers had been sick, and their Mommy had a brilliant idea. She thought,"I have a great idea! In case the older brothers get sick in the middle of the night and can't make it in time to get sick in the bathroom, why don't I make them a nice cozy pallet to sleep on? That way, should I have to be up all night (for the third night this week), I won't have to run around and change sheets and find clean ones!" Of course the older brothers thought this was a fantabulous idea and went along with it wholeheartedly. They loved sleeping together, but had grown too big to do so in their own beds. This way, not only could they sleep side by side, they could talk and talk and talk, just in the way that all brothers do.

The Daddy had mercy on the Mommy and went to tuck in all the little boys. When all was finished, he came and sat back down in the quiet living room. The Daddy had made a beautiful fire to sit by, on this cold wintry night, and was happily trying to stoke that fire. So this tired Mommy just sat and watched this handsome Daddy as he did this. She sat there for a while and was about to fall asleep, when she decided to go ahead and go to bed. Of course, just going to bed was not at all what Mommy's do, so after ten minutes of washing and cleansing her face in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, and doing all the other stuff that all Mommies do, she thought about what she should do next. The kids!, she though. She had yet to check on them!

So down the hall she went, quickly and quietly as a mouse and peeped in at all her sleeping angels. The younger brothers were blissfully sleeping, exhausted by their day, one at kindergarten, and the other tired from being so sick all day. She tucked them in, all nice and tight and snug as two bugs in a rug, and left to check on the older brothers. She stuck her head in their room and alas! They were still awake! What they were talking about, she did not even want to know, since it was coming upon the ten o'clock hour. She made sure they were all tucked in, nice and tight snug as two bugs in their rug, and left their room.

And now, the tired, exhausted, worn out and on the verge of being cranky Mommy sits and writes her family and loved ones a story. She's afraid that if she goes to sleep someone else will wake up sick. So prolong it, she tries, to no avail. It's getting later and later and sleep she must! The face has been washed, the kitchen has been cleaned, the pillows have been put back where they belong, the stray toys have been picked up off the floor, the folded clothes have been properly dispersed, the playroom couch has been 'made back up', the animals have been fed, the shoes have been put back in their proper place, and here she still sits. Well, this is silly, she thought. So she finishes her bedtime story, says her prayers, and picks up her Christmas book. And sooner than she thinks will happen, off to the Land of Nod she goes.