Last month, I was on the phone with my mom and I was telling her that I didn’t know what was going on with me but I was just so, so tired. While we were chatting, my littlest, who is almost two, came up to me carrying a stereo she had unplugged in another room. Then, I had to get her down from a table. And then take a pair of scissors away. And then… And then… You get the picture. My mom started laughing at me and said, “You need to write a little story for Kate about why mommy is so tired.” So, I did. It’s no great masterpiece of children’s literature, that’s for sure. But I hope some of you tired mommies out there might think it’s funny, because maybe you’ve had some of these very same moments at your house lately. So, in honor of March being National Reading Month, when we should all remember to read to the little angels that are sapping us of all our energy, here is my children’s storybook answer to the question, “Why is mommy so tired?”
* * * * *
WHY IS MOMMY SO TIRED?
Little Kate looked around. There was so much to do!
She thought to herself, “So many more adventures are waiting for you!”
Kate spied her Mommy, curled up on the couch, almost like a little ball.
Mommy wasn’t doing anything fun at all.
Kate looked at the Mommy she loved and admired.
Kate asked herself, “Why, oh why, is Mommy so tired?”
Kate thought back over her day.
She’d spent the day before in much the same way.
What had Mommy said?
All those things she said, before she collapsed and pretended to be in bed?
Yes, Kate remembered now.
It had been a fun day, and how!
Kate wiggled her spaghetti and let it drop off to the side of her highchair tray.
Mommy said, “Kate, please don’t throw your lunch on the floor that way!”
Why is Mommy so tired?
Kate tried to escape to the backyard to explore.
Mommy said, “Kate, it’s two degrees out, please don’t open the door!”
Why is Mommy so tired?
Kate crept quietly to put the scissors away, tiptoeing light as air.
Mommy said, “Was someone cutting their own hair?!”
Why is Mommy so tired?
Kate was going up, up and away! She was flying!
Mommy said, “Oh no! Kate is riding her tricycle down the stairs! Now the poor thing’s crying!”
Why is Mommy so tired?
Kate found the perfect place to play. It made her feel so big, like she was six feet ten!
Mommy said, “Kate! You’re on top of the table again?!”
Why is Mommy so tired?
Kate heard her Mommy say, “I haven’t been this tired since I can’t remember when.
What do you mean it’s only 2pm?”
Kate thought her Mommy ought to be up having fun!
Why was she lying there and having none?
Why is Mommy so tired?
Kate thought and thought and knew what she had to do.
She said to herself, “Mommy, we’ll just have to start training you.
Every day, I’ll make the adventures bigger and better!
That way, we can keep having fun forever!”
* * * * * *
You know how you throw a line on in songs or stories like “Down By the Bay”? Why is mommy so tired at your house? Bonus points for rhyming.
Kate thought her toys would like to go for a swim
So she opened the toilet lid and they all jumped in
Mommy said “oh Kate! now your toys are all wet”
Kate thought that this was the most fun yet
Love it, Sarah! A while back, the kids told me that they flushed a toy horse, “but it was only one of the little ones,” so, you know, that makes it all ok.