Count me to Sleep

Note: I discovered early on, when my daughter was two, that if I counted in the bedtime story, she would fall asleep by 20. At five years of age, sometimes I need to count to 60, however, many nights my daughter now asks me to count her to sleep! Here is one story, but you can make up millions of them.

Once upon a time, there was a little princess and her name was...Isabel. She was the most beautiful princess in the world. Her favorite color was...pink. Her dresses were pink, her shoes were pink, her hair was pink and her wand was pink. She had a wand because she wasn't just any old princess...she was a magical princess! She had a cousin, a prince, whose name was Joshua. His favorite color was...blue! He wore blue clothes, had a blue horse, blue running shoes AND a blue sword.

One day, Joshua called Isabel on the phone. "ISABEL!" he yelled across the phone line. "Can you come over and play?"

"Okay, JOSHUA!!" yelled back Isabel. "Where are you playing?"

"In my tower!" yelled back Joshua. "Just yell when you come over!"

"OKAY! BYE!" Isabel hung up the phone and called out for her pet dragon. "Pinky!" she called.

Flap, flap, flap. Out flew Pinky, Isabel's pink dragon. Isabel clambered onto Pinky's back and off they flew to Joshua's castle.

When they got there, Pinky flew away before Isabel had time to call out to Joshua. For some reason, the stairs were gone! So Isabel took out her wand and said, "Abracadabra, ziggeldy zairs, when I wave my wand, make some pink stairs!" And presto, alacazam, beautiful pink stairs appeared...all the way up to the tower.

Isabel started to climb (Note: Parents, this is where you start counting.) One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. When Isabel got to the tenth stair, she was zonked! So she took out her wand and said, "Abracadabra, ziggeldy zed, when I wave my wand, make me a pink bed!" And presto, alacazam, a beautiful pink bed appeared. Isabel was very tired, so she said to herself, "I'll close my eyes to twenty and then I'll start climbing again."

(Note, Parents...keep counting. By the time you get to twenty your little'un will be asleep. If not, have him/her climb another ten or twenty stairs and then have her/him summon a snack and then a bench for another rest of twenty. I guarantee, one of you will be asleep shortly.)
Copyright Wendy Spiegel, Los Angeles, CA, 2005. All rights reserved.

Squishy Buishy

Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose name was Buishy. She loved her mama, whose name was Mama Buishy. Buishy had a pillow...a squishy pillow, named Squishy Buishy. Buishy would sit on the floor of her room and hold her pillow, chanting, "Squishy Buishy, Squishy Buishy, Squishy Buishy!"

One day, Buishy was with Mama Buishy at the park and Buishy's friend Muishy Buishy passed by.

"Hi Buishy," called out Muishy Buishy.

"Hi Muishy Buishy," replied Buishy.

Muishy Buishy sat down next to Buishy.

"Can I play with Squishy Buishy?" asked Muishy Buishy.

"No!" exclaimed Buishy, holding tightly to Squishy Buishy.

And Buishy started chanting, "Squishy Buishy, Squishy Buishy, Squishy Buishy."

And Muishy Buishy replied, "Muishy Buishy, Muishy Buishy, Muishy Buishy!"

Just then, their little friend, Buishy Buishy, ALSO passed by and called out, "Hi Buishy! Hi Muishy Buishy! Can I play with Squishy Buishy?"

"NO!" shouted BOTH Buishy and Muishy Buishy!

Now all three of them sat on the ground and ALL three of them were yelling at the top of their lungs!

"Squishy Buishy, Squishy Buishy, Squishy Buishy."

"Muishy Buishy, Muishy Buishy, Muishy Buishy!"

"Buishy Buishy! Buishy Buishy! Buishy Buishy!"

Well, Mama Buishy had had enough!

"Girls!" She shouted. "Stop with all the Buishy's! You are driving me NUTS!" Mama Buishy picked up Squishy Buishy and ordered, " Enough playing! Squishy Buishy and Buishy are leaving the park! Good-bye! See you tomorrow! Go home everyone!!"

All the girls sighed a big, "AAAAAAHHHHH!" and then a sad "Bye-bye!"

But then as they all headed their separate ways, under their breathes you could just hear the chants saying, "Squishy Buishy, Muishy Buishy, Buishy Buishy..." all the way home.

Copyright Wendy Spiegel, Los Angeles, California 2005. All rights reserved.