In honor of our "One Book, One Community" book and very special friend, Humphrey, I thought I would share my weekend with Humphrey! It is written from Humphrey's point of view, see what he thought!
MY WEEKEND WITH THE
CRAWFORDS
I arrived at the
Crawford home Friday afternoon after a rainy, dreary day of teacher
professional development. I didn’t see
kids all day so I was quite excited about this adventure. On my ride home, Mrs. Crawford told me all
about her daughters. Slow-down-Brooklyn
is a very busy 3 year old who likes to play in her kitchen, color, read, and
run! Don’t-eat-that Camryn is a happy
little 1 year old who puts everything in her mouth! How funny, I thought, they both remind me of
myself in some ways.
When I arrived, I
was greeted by Slow-Down-Brooklyn and her Grammie. Slow-Down-Brooklyn loves animals so I knew we
would get along well, despite her insisting on calling me a mouse. She was very intrigued by the special things
in my cage, but had some concerns as well.
Slow-Down-Brooklyn thought that I need a bridge over my slide in order
to reach the toy that hangs from the top of my cage. Hmmm, smart idea, I thought. Adults would never think of that! She also wondered where my mama was. Mrs. Crawford seemed to ignore that
question. After meeting
Slow-Down-Brooklyn, Mrs. Crawford strategically placed my cage on the kitchen
counter. She explained that this would
be the perfect spot for me, out of reach of Don’t-eat-that-Camryn, who was
still sound asleep in her crib. Napping
did in fact sound like a great idea, so I headed into my igloo and napped for
the rest of the evening, even with Slow-Down-Brooklyn repeatedly shouting “come
out Humphrey!”
Later that night,
Mr. and Mrs. Crawford watched the UConn basketball game. We were all a bit nervous towards the end, so
I hopped on my wheel and ran out all of my nervous energy. We were all relieved when the buzzer went off
and UConn had won, hitting foul shot after foul shot to clinch it. After all that running, I had some water and
breakfast (I am ‘turnal after all), then I played while the whole house fell
silent.
Early Saturday morning, the Crawfords woke
up and hit the ground running!
Whoa! Mr. Crawford headed out to
work. He told me he had some catching up
to do before Monday morning. So it was
just me and the girls!
Slow-Down-Brooklyn and I talked for a long time. She pulled up her stool and just observed me,
the way Ms. Mac would, and she drank her milk and asked Mrs. Crawford many more
questions about me.
Don’t-eat-that-Camryn drank her bottle, then laughed, giggled, and
pointed at me...from afar. The girls
had breakfast and I had dinner, then off to sleep I went.
The house was
still busy while I was catching some Zzzzzz’s.
Mrs. Crawford reminds me a lot of Aldo, so busy cleaning. I’m not sure why she bothers. I once heard that “cleaning your house while
your children are growing is like shoveling during a blizzard.” I can now attest to the truth of that. The Crawfords were in and out throughout the
day while I just slept, buried in the back of my cage.
Sunday was a lot
like Saturday. Don’t-eat-that Camryn was
up first and soon after, the whole family was up and moving. BUSY-BUSY-BUSY! I talked with Slow-Down-Brooklyn for awhile
again until I was too tired and fell fast asleep in the back of my cage. She kept asking questions, but all I could
reply was “squeak, squeak, squeak.” I so
badly wanted to tell her how much I enjoy my temporary home at West Hill
School. In the afternoon, I overheard
the excitement of the UConn game, but I was too tired to even lift my head. Turns out, UConn won and is headed to the
final four! Wow! What a great way to end my weekend visit!
I was once told
that “you can learn a lot about life by observing another species” so I thought
I would share what I learned over my weekend.
I learned that 3 year olds are really good at dancing, singing, and
negotiating. I learned that the smile and
giggles of a one 1 year old can light up a whole room. And finally, I was reminded that laughter
truly is the best medicine.
