Check out children's author Rick Walton's books.
The Goldilocks Project |
Goldilocks came home from work one day to find the house in total disarray. What in the world could have happened while she was gone? She left the three amigos (an affectionate term for her sons) in charge of keeping things straightened, and it looked like a tornado had ripped through instead.
She walked through the house and couldn't find the amigos anywhere. Clearly they hadn't taken her serious when she said she would put all of their things in a garbage bag and take them to Deseret Industries if they didn't clean up today.
She pulled up her hair, put on her rubber gloves and dust mask, and walked carefully into the youngest amigo's room. Armed with a box of garbage sacks, she found his mattress on the floor, his sports gear everwhere, and his clothes hanging every place clothes could hang. She began to put things bag #1, and soon his room was clean.
Amigo number two didn't have quite as many clothes, but he seemed to have a large collection of pop cans NEAR the garbage can, and lots of video games strewn about. Goldilocks picked it all up and labeled the bag #2.
Now she had to go to Amigo number three's room. What would she find there? It was sometimes like the black hole for kids stuff. Oy vey! She darkened the doorway, and slowly entered. There was just...STUFF...everywhere. (As the amigos get older, they seem to acquire more and more!) Blankets and clothes, dishes, and all sorts of things were everywhere! She opened bag #3 and filled it, and then exhausted she opened bag #4.
She had left beds, bedding, clothes in drawers and closets, but precious little else in their rooms. Any stray possessions were now in bags 1-4, and they were headed to the local shelter. Understand, Goldilocks had warned the amigos time after time, probably too many times, that this would happen. Now to her dismay, she had to follow through. She put the bags in the garage to be taken away, but she opted for a power nap on the couch first.
A while later, the three amigos came home from mutual. They could smell change in the air, or was that air freshener? It was coming from the hallway, more importantly their rooms! The youngest amigo went to his room to find nothing but the basics an amigo would need. He was horrified and yelled for his brothers. "Somebody's been cleaning my room! And all I have is a bed and clothes in the closet!"
They all ran to the second amigo's room and found the same horrifying scene. "Somebody's been cleaning my room! I only have a bed and clothes in the closet too!"
It was a frightening scenario because they all knew that they should have heeded Goldilocks' warning, and they knew the next room wouldn't be pretty (at least in the sense of having anything but clothes and a bed).
They walked to the next room, and amigo number three covered his eyes and said "I can't look. Tell me my Pepsi can pyramid is still there!"
"It's gone!" said amigo number two. "Gone!"
"Oh, the humanity!" said amigo number three. "It took me months to build it, and now I will have to start over. There was even a little in some of them to stabilize the bottom. I can't replace that!"
They then went through the house to find Goldilocks and found her sleeping on the couch. She was obviously worn out because she still had the dust mask on her forehead. They knew better than to wake her from her power nap, especially after a day of work and then cleaning their rooms for them.
They sat down and waited for her to wake up. As she slept she began to feel their presence, in fact it was more like they were staring at her willing her to wake up. She sat up, and they asked her if she had really given their things away. She thought they must not have seen the bags in the garage and told them it was all in a safe place.
They began to feel a little more panic because that could mean it all went to the local shelter, and this was important stuff to them. "Could we earn it back?" asked amigo number one?
"Earn it back?" Goldilocks asked?
"Yes" said amigo number two. "If you haven't given it away, can we keep our rooms clean and earn it back a little at a time?"
"I think we could work that out." said Goldilocks. "You can get it back a little at a time, but your room has to be clean AND moldy-pop-can and stinky-sock free. I don't want to have to go through such an ordeal again!"
The best group hug ever followed that statement, and the three amigos earned their things back little by little by keeping their rooms clean from then on. Oh, and they lived happily ever after.
Copyright 2007 © Shannon Amy. All rights reserved.
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