Once Upon a Time....

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Melody. She was the third child out of four. She had a brother named Steve, who was seven years older than her. Then, she had a sister named Melissa who was 5 years older. And last, but certainly not least, she had a wee baby brother named Chris. When Chris was born, Melody was almost 5 years old.

Melody's mommy was a crazy lady. She was not a happy stay-at-home mommy. See, her mommy never took advantage of all of the luxuries of the world, such as learning to drive. So, her mommy was stuck day.after.day with 4 children in her home and no way out. Year after year, her mommy got more and more angry and more and more fed up with being a wife and a mother.

One summer, when Steve was about 13, Melissa was 11, Melody was 6 and Baby Chris was 1, the mommy started locking them outside. After breakfast, the three bigger kids were hurried outside to play. And the mommy locked the door. The children were only allowed back in around lunchtime. And, then again, after bologna and crackers and a swig of Kool-aid, the kids were placed outside again. This time, the excuse was naptime for Baby Chris. What the mommy didn't know was that there were windows in the house... the kids could see in. And do you know what they saw? Why, the mommy was eating her own lunch of Chicken Noodle Soup and crackers and watching Guiding Light! She just really wanted to be alone!

Later on, the kids snuck in the back door. They had taken tomatoes out of the garden and cut them open, pouring the guts out of them. Then, the oldest brother Steve took mayonnaise and filled the gutless tomato full - just for the mommy. Why, it was a peace offering! Surely, she would love this and welcome them back into her home!

No. It didn't work. The kids spent all day... everyday.. locked outside. It was a long hot summer.

Years later, Melody was a mommy herself. She loved her kids and loved being their mommy.
She took advantage of all the things life had to offer, she drove, she flew on planes and she did lots of neat adult things.

Yet one day, she was cleaning house. And her kids were whining. So she pushed them out the door while she mopped.

Look what she saw.

She was glad they didn't give her mayo filled tomatoes.

Edited to Add: During this process, their father was outside mowing. So was big brother Eli. And it only took about 10 minutes. They just kept running thru... tracking dirt in and out. I just wanted a clean floor. And, for what it's worth.. it didn't last. :)