"It's Monday…What Are You Reading?"

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.