Bobbi Sue Doesn't Want A Bath

Bobbi Sue Peters loved to play outside. She liked nothing better than to spend her whole day running around outside playing in the dirt and grass. What she didn't like was to come inside. What she really hated was to take a bath.

"Bobbi Sue!" Mommy called her. "Bobbi Sue, it's time to come in!"

Bobbi Sue hide behind the big oak tree in the front yard hoping Mommy would just go away. No such luck. Mommy just kept calling and calling and each time she called Mommy's voice just got closer and closer. Her voice got angrier and angrier too. Bobbi Sue didn't know whether to run away or face the scolding she was sure to get. She ended up not doing anything. She stood glued to the spot behind the tree.

"Bobbi Sue!" reprimanded Mommy when she finally found Bobbie Sue. "I've been calling you and calling you. It's time to come in for your bath."

Bobbi Sue frowned. "Aw, mommy!" she sighed unhappily. "Do I have ta?" Mommy nodded as she started leading Bobbi Sue into the house. "But Mommy," Bobbi Sue protested. "I'm only a little dirty."

Mommy looked Bobbi Sue over. Bobbi Sue was covered from head to toe in dirt. There wasn't a clean spot on her. Mommy laughed. "Only a little?" she replied. "I think you got that backwards. You only left a little bit of dirt on the ground."

Mommy led Bobbi Sue into the house. "March right upstairs!" she instructed, "and don't touch anything on the way!" Bobbi Sue groaned but did as she was told. Mommy followed her up the stairs. Mommy filled the tub with water while Bobbi Sue took off her dirty clothes.  "Get in the tub." Mommy demanded once the tub was filled.

"Do I have ta?" asked Bobbi Sue hoping that this time the answer would be different.

"Now!" insisted Mommy angrily pointing to the tub.

Bobbi Sue slowly climbed into the water filled tub and sat down. She had to admit the warm water felt  kind of nice on her skin. "Ah!" she said. She wished she didn't have to wash, and she could just sit there relaxing in the tub. That would probably get boring after a while anyway she figured. She didn't know how grown-ups could just sit there for hours in the tub without doing anything.

Mommy opened the bathroom closet to get Bobbi Sue a washcloth. "What's that?" asked Bobbi Sue noticing a big box on the top shelf.

Mommy looked up. "Those were Brendan's bath toys." Brendan was Bobbi Sue's older brother. He was in middle school. He was in 7th grade. Bobbi Sue was only in first grade.

"Why aren't they Brendan's toys anymore?" asked Bobbi Sue curiously."When did he have them? I never saw him play with them."

"He had them when he was about your age. We took them away because he wouldn't stop splashing." explained Mommy. "Then, we just forgot about them, and he got too old for them."

"Can I play with them?" begged Bobbi Sue. "I promise I won't splash."

"After you wash." Mommy told her. Bobbi Sue sighed unhappily, but with Mommy's help she quickly scrubbed herself clean. It was the fastest she had ever gotten washed. Usually she kept squirming around in the tub and moving out of Mommy's reach and it took a long time.

"Now, can I play with the toys?" she asked hopefully. Mommy took the box off the shelf and put it on the floor next to the tub where Bobbi Sue could reach it. Bobbi Sue immediately grabbed for the box. She took out several rubber ducks of various sizes and colors, a couple of different colored boats and one or two other toys and put them into the tub with her. She began playing with them. She had such a good time playing with the toys she decided she didn't care if she had to stay in the tub forever.

However, after about a half hour, which felt to Bobbi Sue like hardly any time at all, Mommy told her it was time to get out of the bath. "Do I have to?" asked Bobbi Sue unhappily. "Five more minutes." she begged.

"Okay." agreed Mommy. "Five more minutes."

"Yay!" exclaimed Bobbi Sue excitedly clapping her hands. She went back to playing with the toys.

Five minutes passed very quickly. Much quicker than Bobbi Sue would have liked. "Can I have another five minutes?" she begged when the time was up. This time Mommy shook her head no and wouldn't change her mind no matter how much Bobbi Sue begged. She made Bobbi Sue get out of the tub.

As soon as Bobbi Sue was dried off and in her pajamas, she asked eagerly. "Mommy, can I have another bath now?"

"Tomorrow." replied Mommy.

"Oh phooey!" exclaimed Bobbi Sue. She wanted to take another bath now. She couldn't wait until it was tomorrow.

The Girl Who Dated a Cat

Today's story is not only for my daughter but by my daughter.


Marinda was a beautiful girl. She looked like she was a Disney princess. Some people even saw her and thought she would marry a prince and move to a castle. Then, she would get anything she wanted.  Marinda had different plans she was just taking it slow dating her best friend Angelina's cat, Leo.

Leo was sweet, loving and loyal. Marinda could not find any human guy like that. She was fine with it anyway. She loved Leo and she just knew he loved her too. Marinda went to Angelina's house all the time. Sometimes she went to see Angelina, but other times she came just to see Leo. Leo always looked happy to see her when she got there so she knew he loved her as much as she loved him.

Marinda's family was worried about her. They all knew Marinda could do much better than a cat. Her mom tried all the time to convince her that there were some guys out there as good as a cat like Leo. Her dad told her all about how if she married a cat she could not start a family. That did not work either she did't care what anybody said. She knew she loved Leo and to her that was all that mattered.

As a little girl, Marinda always dreamed of having 4 kids, all girls. Their names would be Layla, Zoey, Madison and Ally. Now that plan was out the window. She would just date. She did't need a big family. All she needed was Leo.

Angelina was starting to feel left out. She felt like she was losing her best friend to her own cat. She wanted Marinda to be happy, but she also did't want to lose her best friend to her cat.

Marinda came to Angelina's house asking for Leo. Angelina  said "Just come up  he's in my bed". She would ask if  Marinda would like to hang out while she was there, but she knew Marinda would say no so she just said nothing else.

Marinda ran up the staircase. When she got to Angelina's room, she slowly walked in and sat on the bed. Right away, she began to pet Leo. Leo got up and moved into her lap and cuddled up. He looked like a  big chubby ball.

One day, Angelina came over with sad news. Angelina's dad got a new job in New York. That meant that Angelina's whole family would be moving including Angelina and Leo. Marinda was so sad. Both her best friend and her boyfriend would be gone. She did not know what to do.

Sadly, the day came when it was time for Angelina and Leo to go. Marinda cried while waving goodbye.  She was too sad to hold back her tears or to even say a word.

The next day, Marinda bumped in to a man at the mall. He looked as if he were a prince and well, it turned out he was one. He and Marinda fell in love at first sight. They grew up, got married, and moved to a beautiful castle. Marinda got everything she wanted even the 4 kids, all girls, Madison, Ally, Layla and Zoey.  They even got their own cat and named her Leah.

Marinda's family was so happy for her. She and the prince took care of them and gave them money.

So, I guess you can say they all  had their happily every after. At least Marinda and her prince did.

Dixie's Dream

Dixie Ebert was fast asleep one night when she was awakened by a sudden noise. She awoke to see a figure in her room. Somehow, she wasn't frightened though. The figure sort of reminded her of her best friend, Charleigh Jacobs except in a more ghostly way. She and Charleigh had been best friends since kindergarten except lately things hadn't been so good between them. They were always fighting. Who are you?" asked Dixie.

"I'm the ghost of your past." replied the figure.

"The ghost of my past?" replied Dixie in surprise. "What the Dickens?"

The next thing she knew Dixie was back in the past. She saw herself and Charleigh on the playground. They were laughing and playing and having a good time. "I know we are going to be best friend's forever." declared Dixie. She smiled at Charleigh.

"I know it too." replied Charleigh as she smiled back.

Then, they were at Dixie's 7th birthday party. They were 20 kids there. "Wow!" exclaimed Dixie as she watched her younger self. "I forgot I used to be really popular."

7 year old, Charleigh was laughing at 7 year old,  Dixie. "You're so much fun!" she exclaimed with a huge smile.

"I did use to be fun." said Dixie with a sigh turning away from her younger self.

Then, she was suddenly in her room again. She shook her head wondering what had just happened. She had barely had time to process it when she was visited by another figure. This one reminded her of her mother. "Mommy?" she said.

"I'm the ghost of your present." said the figure.

Before Dixie could ask another question, she was whisked away again. This time, she was at Charleigh's house. She was with a group of girls. "I asked Dixie to come with us, but she just wanted to stay home." explained Charleigh to the girls. "She is getting to be such an old fuddy duddy."

"Yeah." replied another one of the girls. "She used to be fun."

"When did I stop being fun?" Dixie wondered just before she was quickly whisked away again. She was once more back in her room. There was somebody there with her but she couldn't see who it was because their face was entirely covered by a hood. The person or creature or whatever it was beckoned her to go with it. Dixie was frightened and reluctant to go. However, it gently took her arm and steered her in the direction it wanted her to go.

This time apparently they had gone into the future because the figure led her to a cafe with a bunch of computers and she could see on one of the computer screens that the date was ten years in the future. She leaned closer and she could see that the article open on the computer screen was about a crazy cat lady who lived all alone with a house full of cats. When she leaned closer and starting reading the article she could see that it was a story about herself.  She jumped back and opened her mouth to scream, but as soon as she opened her mouth, everything faded away again, and she felt as if she was floating through space.

Then suddenly, Dixie opened her eyes and found that she was in her own room in her bed. It was all a dream or was it? She checked the date on her phone just to be sure and was happy to see that it was the present day.  She was so happy not to be an old cat lady. She quickly got dressed and practically ran all the way to Charleigh's house.

Charleigh was surprised to see her. "Hi Dixie," she said. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I've missed you Charleigh." replied Dixie. "I missed all the fun we used to have together. I am sorry we've been fighting so much."

"I've missed you too." declared Charleigh tightly hugging her friend. "I'm sorry I have to cut our  reunion short though." she apologized.  "I already made plans to go to a movie with a bunch of kids from school. I know that it would be too much of a crowd for you."

"Oh, but I want to go." insisted Dixie.

"You do?" asked Charleigh in surprise this certainly wasn't the Dixie she knew.

"Yes I do," declared Dixie.  She smiled at Charleigh.

Charleigh smiled back. "I'm glad you're coming. I like the new you or should I say the return of the old  you."

Dixie knew she wasn't completely back to her old self yet, but at least she had taken the first step.

The Haircut

Iola York was really proud of her long blond hair. It flowed all the way down her back. She had never had it cut since she was a baby.

"Wouldn't you like to have a little trim?" her mother would ask her.

"No! No!" Iola would scream. She couldn't stand the thought of having a tiny inch of her precious hair cut off.

Then, one day in the school cafeteria there was a huge food fight. Iola hurried to hide under the table with the other kids, but it was too late. She had gotten something in her hair and whatever it was was really sticky. She tugged and pulled at it, but she just couldn't get it out. In fact, she just managed to make things worse by getting her hair all tangled up and knotty.

Iola got so upset that she became hysterical, and  started crying really hard They had to send her to the nurses office. The nurse tried to cut the sticky mess out of Iola's hair, but Iola became even more hysterical and crying even more. Tears fell down her cheeks in great globs.  She would not let the nurse near her hair with scissors. They had to call her mother to come and pick her up.

"Mommy!" shrieked Iola rushing into her mother's arms as soon as her mother reached the school.

"What's the matter?" Mommy asked tenderly putting her arms around Iola. Iola was too upset to even say. Her mother just looked at her and saw the sticky mess in Iola's hair. "Oh, honey." she said sadly. "That is going to have to be cut out." She took the scissors from the nurse and gently cut the food out of Iola's hair.

Unfortunately. there had been quite a lot of it and cutting it out left Iola's hair kind of lopsided. Iola's mother looked at Iola's hair and frowned. "What?" exclaimed Iola worriedly. She quickly ran her hands through her hair. She could tell it didn't feel right. She hurried over to the mirror and as soon as she saw her hair she started screaming.

"Don't worry." her mother assured her. "We'll take you to the hair salon. Just so they can even it out." she added when she saw the horrified look on Iola's face. Before, Iola could utter a word of protest, her mother had signed her out of school and steered her toward the car.

The hair salon was pretty empty at that time of day so Iola was quickly ushered into a chair. The stylist who cut her hair was very chatty. She kept talking to Iola. Iola was too upset and nervous to reply to anything the stylist said or to watch what the stylist was doing. Still, the stylist just kept chatting away. Iola was worried that she was chatting too much because she just kept chatting and cutting and chatting and cutting. Iola was sure it should not take that long just to even out her hair.

Finally, Iola actually looked at her hair in the mirror. It was quite a bit shorter than it had been.  "Stop!" she screamed in horror. She wanted to cry again, but she was too upset to even do that so she just kept staring at her hair in the mirror.

"But it's not even." replied the stylist.

"Then, just make it even and don't cut a bit more. " demanded Iola. "I'll be watching you!" she added in threatening tone.

The stylist gave her a nasty look and didn't talk the rest of the time she was cutting Iola's hair. She just quickly finished cutting. When she finished, Iola looked in the mirror and frowned. It was so much shorter than she wanted it to be. Her mother quickly paid and ushered Iola out of the shop before she could get hysterical again.

"You look good." her mother reassured her once they got out of the shop.

Iola didn't think so. "Can I get a hat?" she asked. Her mother gave her a questioning look. "So I can hide my hair under it until it grows." Iola explained.

Just as they reached their car a couple of the popular girls from Iola's school came along. Iola wasn't really friends with them, and they generally didn't pay much attention to her, but this time they headed right for her. "Oh great." mumbled Iola trying to make herself invisible. 'What a time for them to finally notice me' she thought.

"Hi." said one of the girls. "You go to our school, don't you?"

Iola nodded.

"We just wanted to say that we love your haircut. Where did you get it done?" the other girl gushed excitedly as the first girl nodded and smiled.

Iola was speechless. All she could do was point to the hair salon. "Thanks." said the girls as they headed that way.

"Should we go get that hair hiding hat now?" Iola's mother asked as she and Iola got in the car.

"Are you kidding?" replied Iola very seriously. "I'm not hiding this haircut. I'm a trendsetter.   I've never been a trendsetter before." She pulled down her visor and immediately began admiring her new haircut in the mirror.

Iola's mother just smiled.

I'm Just Not Cool Enough

Today's story is not only for my daughter but by my daughter.


Brooklyn Jackson was 6 years old. She lived in a house with her Mommy, her Daddy, her older sister Debby, and her little sister Ellianna. She lived in a kind of small neighborhood where most people were friendly with each other. Brooklyn's best friend in the world since birth  was Kristen. She lived across the street.  Unfortunately. Kristen was going to be moving to a new town in a new neighborhood. Kristen and Brooklyn were both so sad. "Goodbye."  said Brooklyn sadly though her tears.

"Goodbye." replied Kristen just as sadly as Brooklyn. Kristen's Mom called her to go home. She unhappily ran off.

Brooklyn was so sad she hardly did anything anymore.

"I bet someone just as nice as Kristen will move in across the street."" Mommy assured Brooklyn

After two weeks, a new girl  did move in  across the street. It was a 6 year old girl just like Brooklyn.

"Brooklyn someone moved in across the street. I heard they have a 6 year old girl. Why don't you go say hello and welcome her to the neighborhood. Tell her you're Brooklyn, and you want to be her friend." suggested Mommy.

"Okay,mommy." agreed Brooklyn. Mommy started to talk like she was not asking if  Brooklyn wanted to go, but she was telling Brooklyn that she  was going to go. Brooklyn walked across the street. Mommy helped her cross, Brooklyn rang the door bell.

"Hello. How can I help you?" asked a woman that came to the door. She was surely not the 6 year old.

"Hello, I'm Brooklyn. I live across the street. I am 6. I heard a 6 year old lives here."

"I'll get her. Ava! Ava! Ava!" the woman called. A little girl wearing a bright blue dress and shiny black high heels came down the stairs. She wore makeup all over her face. She looked as if she was a teenager

"Who is this?" said Ava with a look of  disgust on her face

"This is Brooklyn. She lives across the street and wants to be your friend." said the woman. She gave Ava an angry look.

"It looks like it came from a barn, and it is not cool. It can not be my friend." said Ava.

Brooklyn ran home trying not to cry in front of Ava. She did not want Ava to think she was a cry baby

"Whats the matter baby?" Mommy asked when Brooklyn got home.

"I'm just not cool enough." Brooklyn said sadly running away. As she ran,she bumped into Debby.

"Whats the matter?" asked  Debby upon seeing that Brooklyn was crying

"I'm just not cool enough" Brooklyn said sadly.

"What matter Bookwyn?"  asked Ellianna seeing she that Brooklyn was crying as Brooklyn ran by her.

"I'm just not cool enough." replied Brooklyn.

The next day Brooklyn saw Ava walking in the street. A car was coming up quickly behind Ava. Brooklyn rushed out and pushed Ava out of the way of the car. They both tumbled onto the grass just in time.

"You are cool enough. You saved my life. Will you be my friend?" asked  Ava

"No, you are just not cool enough" declared Brooklyn.

Raphaella

Raphaella Towers and Harrison Lockley were best friends practically from the moment they were born. Where one was found the other was sure to be. They were practically inseparable. That is until the day, they started elementary school

In first grade, they were unmercifully teased for their friendship. "What do you want to be friends with a girl for?" The boys asked Harrison. To them, girls were enemies. They were not friends. There was nothing Harrison could say to make them change their minds about that.

The girls were equally as bad. They made sure Raphaella always stayed on the girls side of the playground and didn't associate with the boys. Of course, Raphaella knew there wasn't  really a boys side or a girls side to the playground but the other kids sure acted like there was.

Raphaella was really sad not to be able to hang around Harrison anymore. She kept secretly looking over to him. When  she was finally able to catch his eye, he didn't smile at her like she expected him to. He didn't look happy to see her nor did he look unhappy to be away from her. That made Raphaella even sadder.

After school. Raphaella quickly ran home. She ran into her room and threw herself down on her bed. Tears flowed down her checks.

Suddenly. she thought she heard a noise. She looked all around her room. She couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from.

"Raphaella!" called a voice outside her window in a loud whisper. Raphaella looked out her first floor window and was startled to see Harrison there.

Raphaella quickly opened the window "What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.

"Raphaella! Raphaella!" called Harrison from outside the window. "Let down your hand!" Raphaella leaned down and offered Harrison her hand. He grabbed it and climbed up into the window.

"What are you doing here?" Raphaella repeated as Harrison completely pulled himself into the room and tumbled to the floor.

"I don't want to stop being your friend." he told her.

"I don't want to stop being yours either." she replied with a smile.  She suddenly felt much lighter and happier. "Why did you have to climb in my window?" she asked.

"I want to be your friend, but I don't want to be teased either." admitted Harrison. Raphaella nodded. She didn't want to be teased either. "So we have to be secret friends." said Harrison. "Okay?"

"Okay." agreed Raphaella immediately. Secret friends was better than not being friends at all.  Besides, there was something exciting about a secret friendship.

From that day on every day after school, Harrison would come to Raphaella's window. "Raphaella! Raphaella! Let down your hand!" he would call, and she would open the window and give him a hand into her room.

Finally one day, Harrison came to Raphaella's window. "Raphaella! Raphaella! Let down your hand" he called, but she didn't come to the window. So he repeated a little louder "Raphaella! Raphaella! Let down your hand."

Harrison heard footsteps from across the room. His heartbeat quickened in anticipation of seeing his good friend. The window opened. A hand reached out. Harrison reached for it but then fell back in shock when he realized that it wasn't Raphaella's hand. This hand wasn't young and soft like Raphaella's. This hand was older and rougher.

Harrison looked up to see a face he remembered. It was the face of Raphaella's mother. "Why hello, Harrison." she said. "Why don't you just use the door?"

Just Hang On It's Friday

When the alarm clock went off at 7:00 in the morning, Deanna Pauley did not want to get up. She quickly turned it off buried her head  deep under her pillow and tried to pretend it had never happened. Just when she had almost fallen back to sleep again, her mother came in and shook her awake not so gently. "Get up, lazy head!" her mother called. "You'll miss your school bus."

At least it was Friday, Deanna thought as she dragged herself out of bed and quickly thrown on some clothes. If she could just hang on for one more school day, the weekend would be here. Deanna smiled thinking of the fun weekend she and her friends had planned.

"Deanna!" shouted her mother anxiously from downstairs. "Hurry up, you're going to miss your bus."

Deanna didn't even have time to eat anything even though she was starving. She just barely had enough time to grab her backpack and race out the door.

The bus ride to school was especially noisy. It gave Deanna a headache. She was actually happy when they pulled up in front of the big brick school building.

She got off the bus and hurried to her classroom. When she opened her backpack, she realized she had forgotten her homework. She couldn't believe it. She never did things like that. She really was not having a very good day. At least, it was Friday. She just had to hang on for one more day.

It was a lot easier said than done. The morning dragged on. They had the most boring substitute who spoke really slowly and made everything sound incredibly boring. Deanna had trouble focusing  and paying attention. She kept just about drifting off and falling asleep. Her head started drooping lower and lower. 

Just when Deanna's head was about to actually hit the desk, the substitute called on her. "What?" replied Deanna in confusion as to what the teacher had actually asked her. She didn't even have any idea what they were talking about. The other kids laughed at the dumb expression on Deanna's face. She blushed and slunk down in her seat. 'Just hang on it's Friday.' she reminded herself.

Finally, it was lunch time. Only lunch wasn't any better. Deanna hadn't had time to make herself lunch, and they weren't serving anything she liked in the cafeteria. Also, it was especially noisy. Deanna's headache came back. 'Friday Friday Friday' she just kept repeating in her mind as she rubbed her temples and tried to make her headache go away.

Deanna would have thought that after lunch things would have gone quicker as so much of the day was already over. However, it didn't turn out that way. They watched the most boring movie Deanna had ever seen in science. She kept staring up at the clock and willing the numbers to movie quicker. They didn't. In fact, even though ,of course,  the numbers were moving at their usual pace, it felt to Deanna like they were moving even slower than usual. She looked up and the time was 2:00. Then, it was 2:05. Then, it was 2:10. No matter how long she thought she waited each time she looked up at the clock, it was only about five minutes later than the time before  When would 2:45 and time to go home ever get here? Why did Friday's have to be so long and slow? They seemed even slower than any other day of the week.

Finally, it was 2:45 and the bell rang signaling that it was the end of the school day. "Alright!" Deanna shouted out with joy and relief. She headed for her school bus. She was so excited to go home that this time the noise didn't even bother her.

When she arrived at her bus stop, she hurried off the bus, rushed into her house, and threw down her backpack next to to the front door. "You seem happy." noted her mother. "How was your day?"

Deanna frowned at the memory of her awful day. "It stunk." she admitted. Her mother gave her a look that indicated she would like to know more about it, but Deanna chose not to go into it. "It doesn't matter anyway, " replied Deanna "because everything is better now."

"Why is that?" asked her mother with interest.

Deanna smiled at her mother surprised that her mother couldn't guess why. "Because it's Friday." she replied to her mother talking  as if she were speaking to a small and not very smart child. 

Deanna's mother shook her head. "It's Thursday." she said.

Deanna's mouth opened wide in horror. It couldn't be, could it? Maybe, her Mom was the one that was confused. The newspaper her Mom was reading said Thursday but it could be the one from yesterday, couldn't it? Deanna hurried into the den and scrambled around until she found the remote control. She quickly turned on the TV. Sure, enough it was only Thursday. "Oh no!" she exclaimed burying her face in her hands. She still had to get through another whole day before the weekend.

Finally, Deanna looked up and forced herself to smile. 'Just hang on. Tomorrow's Friday' she told herself.