“To bed, to bed!” Mom chimed to her son Timmy. Timmy is a
5-year-old boy, and like most boys this age he thinks bedtime is one of the
worst things in the world. On Timmy’s
list it’s right up there with eating broccoli; even worse than eating liver and
onions. You see, there is so much fun to be had. So many adventures to experience; so many
games to be played. It seemed to Timmy that bedtime came much too soon.
“Mommmm! Please let
me stay up for at least 15 more minutes! I’ll brush my teeth for an extra 5
more minutes and even pop right out of bed tomorrow without grumbling!” Timmy tried with all his might to use his
most angelic face. He batted his eyes
and begged like he’d seen his dog, Benji, do so many times. Mom stifled a laugh
and recalled the times when Timmy was a baby and fought his bedtime even
then. He would thrash his head from side
to side and kick his feet in his best effort to stay awake.
“Sweetie, tomorrow is the first day of school. You are starting kindergarten and that’s a
pretty big deal. It’s important that you get a good night’s sleep, so you can
be ready for your big day tomorrow.”
“Okay, Mom” Timmy said, dejected. He shuffled down the hallway and into his
Mickey Mouse bathroom to brush his teeth. He let Mom help him into his Buzz
Light Year pajamas and kneeled with her to say his prayers. “God bless everyone”
said Timmy. “Even those kids that get to
stay up past their bedtimes” he added and glanced slyly to Mom.
Reluctantly time lay down on his bed. Mom covered him up with his favorite blue
blanket and tucked in the blanket around him so that he looked like a little
boy burrito. “Sleep tight” Mom said and kissed him on his cheek. “Get some sleep and I’ll see you in the
morning.” She turned on his night light
and closed the door halfway.
Timmy fidgeted and kicked the blanket off. He looked around his room thinking of all the
things he’d rather be doing right now instead of going to bed (there were too
many to count!). Timmy thought about asking Mom for a drink of water, but he
knew if he asked for it too soon Mom would know what he was doing. Having an exasperated mother was not
something Timmy wanted. “Night time is so boring,” he thought to himself,
dreamily.
Truth be told, Timmy did like the way his new “big boy” bed
felt. Mom had gotten this for him as a
surprise last week. It smelled new and
had a soft, squishy mattress that dented in where he laid. He also like the way
the other bed was over his bed, so it felt like he was sleeping in a cave. Although Timmy liked how his bed felt, his
favorite part was the bookshelf which was attached on the right. His favorite books, Goodnight Moon
and Oh the Places You’ll Go were there, as was his favorite toy car—bright
red with shiny silver trim.
The next morning Mom hummed as she entered Timmy’s room. She was both excited and nervous at Timmy’s
first day of school. Her little boy was certainly growing up! “Timmy!” she sang. “It’s
your first day of school! Rise and
shine!” As she neared his bed and bent down to gently rouse him she gasped. “What
in the world?!!” There were orange,
green, brown, yellow, and black drawings not only on his new bed, but on the
bookshelf as well. She moved closer and studied the drawings. They looked remarkably like the caves at
Carlsbad Caverns they had visited that summer.
Timmy cracked one eye open as he heard his mother. Noticing the look on her face, he sat up with
a start. “What’s wrong, Mom?” he said, rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake up.
Mom just stared with eyes as big as saucers as she shakily pointed to the
caverns with cracks and crevices which were drawn all over his new furniture.
“I need a minute” Mom stammered as she slowly backed out of
Timmy’s room. What was she to do about this?
On one hand, she knew that her son had done this and needed consequences
for doing so. On the other hand,
however, Mom knew that it was important to send Timmy off in good spirits to
his first day of kindergarten. She sipped her coffee as she stared out the
kitchen window, deep in thought. With
time slipping away she made the decision to discuss this with her son and
impose consequences after he completed school that day.
Mom walked down to Timmy’s room and attempted to appear
calm and collected. “Let’s get you ready for school” she said while doing her
best not to look at the new “artwork” on his new bedroom furniture.
While eating his favorite breakfast of pancakes Timmy said,
“Mom, you would never believe what Harold looks like.” “Harold?” Mom said. “Yes, Harold” Timmy replied. “His real name
is Harold the Spider, but he let’s me call him Harold. He’s the one that did
that cool cave artwork in my room. Usually spiders gross me out, but not
Harold. I mean, don’t get me wrong. He’s BIG.
I mean really big. Hairy too. I
like him though because he always has a big smile on his face. He wears a purple and yellow striped t-shirt
that’s too tight and looks funny since it stretches over his belly. He told me
that normally he’s sort of shy, but he wanted to be my friend since he’s
5-years-old too. And you know what Mom?
I think I could draw you a picture of Harold after school!”.
“A shy spider named Harold?” Mom asked as she quickly
cleared the breakfast dishes. “A shy friendly spider named Harold that talks to
you? You say he wears a little purple and yellow striped t-shirt that stretches
across his belly and that he is not only a friend, but he is also a gifted
artist? He sounds like quite a character, son. I’d love to see a picture of him
later, but right now we need to get you to school.”
Throughout the day, Timmy’s mother thought about the newly
discovered “art” in her son’s bedroom.
She had saved for a year to buy this for Timmy as a surprise, and within
a week it was destroyed. Mom went into Timmy’s room and knelt to examine the
drawings more closely. She brushed her hands over the strokes of color as she
marveled at the detail of the depicted caverns. Quite honestly, she was
impressed at the likeness to Carlsbad Caverns.
There was even a sunset that had been drawn in oranges, purples, and
pinks.
The time to pick up Timmy at finally arrived. When Mom spotted him, she was relieved to see
that he had a huge smile on his face.
She knelt to give him a hug as she asked about his first day of
kindergarten. Timmy excitedly said, “I
love school! My teacher is nice, and I
have 2 new friends! Oh, and look Mom! I
painted a picture of Harold the Spider for you today in art!”
Harold was exactly as Timmy had described him earlier that day.
He was a basketball sized spider with a wide smile which stressed across his
face. He donned that too small purple
and yellow striped t-shirt and in one of his arms, Harold held a box of crayons. Mom began laughing.
Softly at first that louder as she wiped tears from her eyes. “What’s so
funny, Mom?” Timmy asked as they walked home. After composing herself, Mom bent
down and looked Timmy in the eye. “I think you and Harold the Spider are both
very creative artists, but let’s buy some paper so that the next time you and
Harold get the desire to paint you can us it instead of your furniture. Would that be okay?” Timmy nodded and smiled
as they continued the walk home. He
began humming, “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.”
The
End
