Wendy Asks Why

Wendy Wilkins was six years old. She was very curious and she wanted to know everything. She was always asking why. Why this and why that. Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why? Why? Why?

One day Wendy and her mother were in the car. They were on their way to Grandma's house. The ride was long and boring. Wendy looked out the window. The sky was gray and dark.  Big noisy raindrops banged against the window. "Why does it rain?" Wendy asked her mother as she stared out of the car window at the pouring rain.

"Rain helps the flowers and plants grow." explained Mommy.

Wendy shook her head  as if her mother ought to know that wasn't really the answer. "No, mommy, she said knowingly, "It rains because the fairies are crying. " Wendy informed her mother.

Mommy smiled to herself. She knew better than to argue with Wendy. Wendy was stubborn as a grass stain on a pair of white pants. Once she got an idea in her head, there was no getting it out.

Another day, Wendy and her father were at the park. Afters a few hours of running around, sliding on slides,  and swinging on swings, Wendy was tired and needed a rest. She lay down on the grass beside her father and looked up at the sky. A flock of noisy birds flew across. "Why can't I fly?" she asked her father as she watched the birds fly effortlessly across the sky.

"Because we don't have wings." her father replied. He started to explain to her exactly how the birds were able to fly and people weren't.

Wendy stopped listening before he even finished. "It's because if we could fly, the bird's would be jealous." she cut in. "People can do so many things that birds can't. Flying is birds special thing. If they didn't have that they would be sad because they would have nothing to make them special."

Her father didn't even bother trying to point out that no matter what every living creature is special in its own way. He knew that it was no use wasting his breathe. Wendy wouldn't listen. She had decided that birds needed to be able to fly and humans needed not to be able to fly for birds to feel special and nothing he said would make her change her mind about it.

"At night when Mommy put her to bed, Wendy stared out the window at the dark sky. "Why does it get dark at night?" she asked as she crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Because the earth revolves around the sun ..." Mommy started to explain, but Wendy wasn't really listening.

"It gets dark at night because the sun gets tired." Wendy told her.

Life went on. Wendy remained curious about everything. She continued to ask questions. Why? Why? Why? Why this, why that, why the other thing. She wanted to know everything and yet she never accepted any of the answers anybody gave her about anything. After all, she already knew all the right answers.

Finally, one day Wendy lost her first tooth. She put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy to come and take. She was explaining that the reason that people lost teeth was because the tooth fairy needed teeth to make jewelry with and not to make room for bigger teeth that were going to grow in  as her father had suggested.

Her father looked at her and smiled.This time it was his turn to ask Wendy a question. It was his turn to be curious.  "Why do you ask questions if you already have all the answers?" he asked. He didn't ask it in a mean way though. He kept smiling at Wendy.

She smiled brightly back at him. "Oh Daddy." she said throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. "I ask questions because I want to make sure other people know things too . Like I do."

"Oh, so you do it out of kindness?" asked Daddy.

Wendy nodded her head up and down. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" she said excitedly. She was so happy that Daddy understood how nice and thoughtful and helpful she was being to other people teaching them things. "I wouldn't want other people to be confused about things Daddy." she said.

"No. We wouldn't want that." agreed Daddy as he smiled again and kissed her.

Too Much Macaroni

 Xyla Mayberry loved macaroni. It was her favorite. She could eat it all the time or so she thought.

One sunny Saturday, Xyla's family had a big party. All Xyla's aunts, uncles and cousin's came. Her grandparents came too. Her mother made several big huge pots of macaroni to feed everybody. She made more than enough food to feed one family. She made enough food to feed a whole army. Xyla was happy. She would be able to eat a little more macaroni the next day.

The next morning, Xyla woke up. There was a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. She came downstairs and sat down at the kitchen table. "Yum!" she said soaking in the wonderful smell. ""What is for breakfast?" she asked eagerly.

"Bacon and macaroni frittata." replied her mother.

Xyla had never had of that before. It was good though and she ate her whole plate full.

At lunch time,they had macaroni soup. Xyla ate all her food, but not as eagerly as before. She was beginning to get her fill of macaroni.

At dinner time, Mommy served macaroni casserole. Xyla sighed unhappily. She was getting tired of macaroni. She barely ate but just picked at her food.

The next morning, Xyla woke up and excitedly headed to the kitchen to have breakfast. She was eager to see what her mother had cooked up. Surely, by now, the macaroni must all be gone.

"We're having macaroni omelets." her mother said cheerfully as Xyla slid into her seat. Xyla put her face in her hands and shook her head. She was beginning to hate macaroni.

For lunch, Mommy served macaroni soup. Xyla pretended to have a stomach ache so she didn't have to eat it. It was worth it not to have to eat another meal of macaroni even though it meant her mother made her spend the afternoon in her room resting.

For dinner, there were macaroni tacos. Xyla couldn't stand it anymore. "No more macaroni!" she screamed.

"But Xyla," said her mother in surprise at her daughter's outburst. "I thought macaroni was your favorite food.

"It is." replied Xyla, "But not, every day  for every meal."

The next morning, Xyla came slowly down the stairs to breakfast. The food smelled good, but she didn't want to get too excited about it. It was probably just more macaroni. She eased herself into her chair. "What's for breakfast?" she asked her mother.

"Pancakes." replied her mother.

"Macaroni pancakes?" asked Xyla worriedly.

Her mother looked at her strangely. "No. Just regular pancakes." she replied. "Did you want me to put macaroni in your pancakes?"

"No!" exclaimed Xyla. She jumped up and hugged her mother. "I love you!." she said "and I love pancakes without macaroni!"

Too Many Turkeys

It was the week before Thanksgiving. Nicolette Bradshaw's mother had just had baby Hope, and she wasn't up to a cooking a big Thanksgiving dinner. "Are we going to have turkey?" asked Nicolette worriedly. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without turkey. 

"Of course." Mommy assured her. "But, it is just going to be you and me and Daddy this year for dinner." she explained.

"Oh." replied Nicolette quietly. She was used to big gatherings of twenty or thirty people with her grandparents, and lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. She was sad that she wouldn't get to see her cousins but she was happy to have Mommy and Daddy and her new baby sister all to herself.

On Sunday, Daddy went out to the supermarket. He brought back a big turkey. It looked really tasty. Nicolette couldn't until  waited until it was cooked and ready to eat.

On Monday, Grandma came over  to drop off some food. She brought potatoes and Cranberry sauce and Pumpkin Pie and another turkey. "I knew your Daddy would be too busy to get a turkey so I got this with my grocery rewards." she told Nicolette as Nicolette helped her put the food away until it needed to be heated up for Thanksgiving dinner.

"But Grandma." Nicolette said. "Daddy got a turkey."

"Well this one was free." explained Grandma as if that would make it taste better.

Nicolette knew better than to try arguing with Grandma. She didn't know what they were going to do with two turkeys though. Two whole turkeys was way to much for four people especially when one of them was baby, Hope who couldn't even eat turkey.

On Tuesday, Uncle Bill and Aunt Betty stopped by on their way out of town. They were going to their daughter's house  for Thanksgiving, and she lived in another state. They dropped off another turkey. "We got this turkey fresh from Tom's Turkey farm." explained Aunt Betty handing Nicolette another turkey. "We have been going there for years, and their turkeys are absolutely the freshest most tasty turkeys around." she added.

Nicolette sighed. They now had three turkeys. What were they supposed to do with three turkeys? They would surely be eating leftover turkey for a long long time. Just the thought of it was making Nicolette lose her appetite for turkey at all.

On Wednesday, some of the neighbor's came by. They greeted Nicolette warmly and handed her yet another turkey. "We knew your Mom would be busy with the new baby so we brought you this." they said cheerfully.

Nicolette could not believe they now had four turkeys. She was truly beginning to hate the sight of turkey, and she did not care if she ever saw, smelled or tasted another turkey as long as she lived.

"What's the matter, Princess?" Daddy asked her cheerfully when he arrived home from work that day. He hated to see her looking so sad.

"What are we going to do with four turkeys?" asked Nicolette worriedly. "I don't want to be eating turkey for the rest of my life."

"Four turkeys?" said Daddy in surprise. "How did we get four turkeys?" He didn't sound the least bit upset about it though. After Nicolette explained how they came to have four turkeys, he still didn't seem the least bit upset. "I'll take care of it." he told her, "and I promise you won't have to eat turkey every day for the rest of your life." He took three of the turkeys and left the house.

Nicolette couldn't imagine where he went with them. "Where did you go, Daddy?" she asked eagerly when he returned.

"I took the extra turkeys to the food bank to be donated to people who don't have any turkeys." explained Daddy. "There are a lot of hungry people out there. We can share with them like our friends and family shared with us."

"Oh Daddy." said Nicolette proudly. "That is so nice." Suddenly four turkeys didn't seem like too many at all.  It seemed like too few. She wished they had enough turkeys to feed all the hungry people in the world. Well, at least they had been able to give turkeys to three families. It might not be the whole world, but it was a start.

Mommy and Daddy Love You More!

Lacy and Jacy Edwards were twins. They loved each other and they hated each other. They were each other's best friends and each others worst enemies. More than  anything, they were incredibly jealous of each other. They were each convinced that Mommy and Daddy loved the other one more.

"You like her better than me!" Lacy accused Mommy when she saw Mommy sitting on the couch and laughing with Jacy.

Mommy smiled brightly at Lacy. "Don't be silly," she said calmly. "Of course, I love you too."

Now, it was Jacy's turn to get upset. "You like her better than me." she pouted.

Mommy sighed tiredly. "I love you both the same."

This did not make Lacy or Jacy happier. Neither of them smiled. Neither of them felt better.

Another time, Lacy took a ride to the store with Daddy. When they got back, Jacy was standing by the door waiting for them. She did not look happy. "I knew she was your favorite!" she said angrily pointing her finger at Daddy.

"I have two favorite daughters." replied Daddy scooping Jacy up into his arms and kissing her. Jacy smiled happily.

Lacy frowned angrily. "Pick me up, Daddy." she said tugging on his arm as he set Jacy down again. Daddy smiled and kissed her, but he didn't pick her up. "I knew you were his favorite." she said to Jacy angrily as Daddy went into the house.

Finally, Mommy and Daddy had enough. They sat Lacy and Jacy down on the couch one afternoon and had a talk with them. "We do not love either of you better than the other." they said "We love you both exactly the same."

To prove it, they had a Mommy and Lacy and Jacy day. Mommy fixed both their hair exactly the same way and did their nails exactly the same way. Then, they had tea (well really milk and cookies). They each had the same amount of cookies and the same amount of milk, and Mommy sat right in the middle of the them.

They had a Daddy and Lacy and Jacy night. They sat on the couch and ate popcorn each in a little individual bowl of the same size. Daddy sat right in the middle of them and held one arm around each of them.

That night, in their room, as they got ready for bed, Lacy said to Jacy "I'm sorry I was jealous of you. I know that Mommy and Daddy love us the same."

"I'm sorry too." replied Jacy. "I know they love us the same too." she replied.

They ran down the stairs excitedly to say goodnight to Mommy and Daddy and tell them that they were done being jealous of each other.  Mommy and Daddy were sitting on the couch with their arms around each other. They looked really happy.

Jacy and Lacy looked at Mommy and Daddy. Then, they looked at each other. They looked back at Mommy and Daddy. "You love Daddy better than us!" said Lacy angrily pointing at Daddy.

"You love Mommy better than us." added Jacy pointing at Mommy.

Baby Becka

Today's Story is by Melia!


Becka Barnaby was 4 years old. She lived with her mom, her dad, and her big sister Nicole. Nicole was 16 years old. Nicole got to do everything. And get things Becka was to young to get. Nicole even had a 1 year old puppy named Scooter, and a boyfriend named Mike. Becka was very jealous. One day Mommy was sitting on the couch in the living room, checking her email on her laptop, and Becka was sitting on the floor playing with her baby dolls when Nicole walked in. "Mom can I go to Danielle Delanardy's party she is in my homeroom. The party is this Saturday. Please." begged Nicole.

Mommy thought a moment, then answered, "You can go but be back by midnight."

"Yes!" Nicole shrieked.

"Mommy I want to go to a party like Nicole." declared Becka.

"Sorry baby, but your to young." Mommy explained.

The next day when Nicole was taking Scooter for a walk Becka said to Mommy, "I want a puppy."

"Sorry baby, but your to young." Mommy explained.

Later that week when Nicole was leaving to go on a date with Mike Becka said, "Mommy I want a boyfriend."

"Sorry baby, but your to young." Mommy explained.

"It's not fair." complained Becka.

"What's not fair?" asked Mommy.

"Nicole gets to do everything. But I can't because I'm to little. I wish I was the oldest." Becka told Mommy.

 "Baby it's nice to be the youngest also. You get to do everything last. When you see Nicole doing or getting something you know to look forward to getting to do it yourself. And the mistakes we made on Nicole we know not to make on you." Mommy explained.

Mommy gave Becka a big hug.

After that, Becka wasn't as jealous anymore.

Big Girl Beth

Today's Story is by Melia!


Beth Brooks, an 11 year old girl, lived with her mom, her dad, and her little sister Lola. Lola was 7 years old. To you and me that isn't a very big age difference, but to Beth it was. Beth was so jealous of Lola. She wished it was herself who was the youngest. Lola got away with everything. Even things Beth didn't get away with.

 "But mooom, it isn't fair." whined Beth.

. "It isn't fair to me that your whining." replied Mom. "Go to your room."

"But -" started Beth.

"I said, TO YOUR ROOM." Mom commanded. 

She had wanted to watch her favorite show, but she had used up her screen time. Later that day, a while after Beth had come out of room, Lola had asked to play her ds. "Pleeeaaaaase!" begged Lola.

"No means no!" mom answered abruptly.

"But mommy -" Lola began, but then Mom cut her off.

"Fine you can play your ds for a half hour." answered Mom.

"Thank you mommy." Lola exclaimed sweetly.

Then she ran off to play. "When I whine I get sent to my room." declared Beth. "When Lola whines she gets what she wants."

"That is not true." defended Mom.

"It is to! Lola gets everything she wants. She's so perfect. I always have to be a good influence on her. And protect her. And let her use my things. And take the high road. She just sits back and relaxes. And gets everything she wants. And never gets in trouble, or yelled at. And everybody thinks she so cute. And she's your little baby. I wish I was the youngest. " Beth explained through tears.

"Sweety, do you really feel like that?" Mom asked.

Beth nodded. "Honey, you don't have to let her use your things. She has to take the high road too sometimes. She does work too. She doesn't get everything she wants. And nobody's perfect. And she does get in trouble. And people think you are beautiful. And you are my baby too. Listen Beth, I was the oldest also. I know what it's like. I mean ya it's tough but it's also fun. She looks up to you." Mom told her.

"I guess your right." Beth agreed. They hugged.

After that Beth still got jealous sometimes, but overall Beth and Lola got along much better.

Gigilocks

Once upon a time, there was a Mom and a Big Sister and a Little Sister. They all lived in a house in a nice neighborhood with a good school. One fine sunny day, they decided to have lunch out on their back patio.They were sitting pleasantly eating their lunch when the phone rang.

Mom went into the house to answer it. It was Grandma. Big Sister and Little Sister came into the house to talk to her too. Grandma was quite a talker. Once she got going, it was hard to get her to stop talking so they were gone for quite a while.

When they finally came out, Mom said "Someone has been eating my lunch." She held up her chicken sandwich which had a big bite out of it."

Big sister said, "Someone has been eating my lunch." She held up her ham sandwich which was half eaten.

"Someone has been eating my lunch." said little sister, "and, now it is all gone!" She held up the empty plate where her tuna fish sandwich had been.

They went back into the house and went into the den. "Someone has been sitting in my seat." said Mom. She picked up the cushions from her chair off the floor where they had fallen and put them back on her chair.

"Someone has been sitting in my chair." said Big Sister. She brushed away some fur that had been left on her chair.

"Someone has been sitting in my chair and they knocked it over." said Little sister. She picked up her chair off the floor.

They went upstairs to the bedrooms. First they went into Mom's room. "Someone has been lying in my bed." said Mom. She fixed her rumpled covers.

They went into the girls' room. "Someone has been lying in my my bed." said Big Sister. She straightened up the toys that she kept on her bed.

"Someone has been sleeping in my bed, and there she is!" said Little sister pointing to her bed. There was their golden furry cat, Giglocks,  purring soundly in the middle of Little Sister's bed. They all laughed. The noise startled Gigilocks. She woke up and opened her eyes and scrambled out of the room. They all laughed even harder.

"Come on." said Mom to the two girls when they finally stopped laughing. "I'll make you some more lunch." They went back downstairs.