Mariposa Kisses (aka Dianne's Blog)

Once upon a time, there was a dinosaur named Whiny. She whined so much that her family called her a whiny-saurus.

Whiny was four years old and she was very smart. She could color between the lines on her princess coloring pages and knew all twenty-six letters from the alphabet.

Her favorite color was pink and she loved to twirl and dance. Ballet was her favorite, of course!

She had a fabulous twinkle in her eyes and a contagious smile that made everyone around her smile back. But, when she wanted something from her mom, she always whined and cried.

One day, she demanded a snack from her mom. She whined and pleaded and begged, but never once said, "Please." And she never asked in a nice voice either.

So her mom lovingly replied, "I won't give you anything you ask for if you ask for it with a whiny voice."

So, Whiny decided to make her request with laughter instead of a complaint. She thought, "If I really want my mom to give me what I want, then I have to make her laugh."

The next day, she started laughing so hard, that boogers flew out of her nose. Tears flooded down her face as well.

Everyone around her started laughing along with her too, even her mom. But what they couldn't figure out was the hilarious joke that was making Whiny laugh so hard.

Whiny's mom asked her why she was laughing. But at this point, Whiny simply could not stop laughing. She chuckled and squealed for fourteen days until she finally fell fast asleep from exhaustion.

She snored a lot while she slept. It must have been from losing all of those boogers from all of that laughter.

When she finally woke up a few days later, she was hungrier than ever. So she asked her mother for a snack. But this time, she said, "Please" and she did not whine.

Since she had finally settled down, she told her mom the thing that had made her laugh so hard. Can you guess what it was?

Whiny had pictured her mom wearing some purple polka-dot underwear along with some fluffy giraffe slippers on her feet.

She also thought up some large green and pink striped hair clips on her head and some yellow feather sunglasses to protect her mom's eyes from the sun.

The picture in her head also dressed her mom with long blue earrings shaped like hot dogs and a white long-sleeve t-shirt with a yellow dancing rhino upon it.

Her mom smiled and hugged Whiny. She also gave her some pretzels and an apple because she had finally asked for a snack without whining.

Everyone loved the new Whiny and they even changed her name to Laughy, for all the laughter she was now bringing into their lives.

The end! :)

Labels: children's story, family, kids

Once upon a time, there was a whale named Tiny. He was smaller than a ladybug that lands on a lemon tree. In fact, he was so small that you could hardly see him even if your eyes were wide open, staring straight at him. So, one day, he decided that he needed to get bigger. He met a krill named Bill and asked him what he should do.

Bill suggested he go in search of the Wishing Fairy. So, that's what Tiny did. He came upon a friendly dolphin, named Dolphy, who happened to hear him begging for directions. Dolphy told Tiny to head toward the big black rock closest to the shore.

Dolphy said Tiny would hear the fairy's singing and would be able to follow her voice until he found her. So, that's what Tiny did. He started to swim in search of the big black rock.

After a few minutes, Tiny came upon a young Garibaldi fish, named Gary. Tiny asked the fish if he was going the right way and Gary said that he was. They chatted about the exceptionally warm water and about sports. Then, Tiny said goodbye and continued to swim toward the black rock in search of the Wishing Fairy.

Ten more minutes passed and Tiny started to get really tired. He was extremely tiny after all. So, he decided to rest on a red-orange piece of kelp. He day-dreamed for a bit, asking himself why he was so small. He pondered why he was even called a whale in the first place. And he wondered if he was ever going to find the Wishing Fairy at all.

Maybe he was just floating inside of a gigantic dream that would never come true. But, after some rest, he awoke refreshed and renewed. He continued to swim toward the big black rock. Almost instantly, he heard the most beautiful singing he had ever heard in his entire life. He began to swim even faster.

His energy and motivation were like that of a large whale now. In a matter of seconds, he could see the giant black rock and realized that he had finally made it. Within seconds, he looked up toward the ocean's surface and locked his eyes upon her vibrant green gaze.

He had found the Wishing Fairy and she was stunning. Her hair radiated golden warmth like the sun itself and her cheeks were pink like wild roses. She knew his purpose in coming and offered him the three wishes instantly. She spoke to him with a tender voice and showed him compassion because of his pure heart and his simple faith to find her, despite his tiny size.

Wish number one was to become big like all the other whales in the ocean. Wish number two was to change his name to Big. And wish number three was to have an ocean-wide ice cream party. The wishes came true almost as quickly as he had thought them up. Now that Big was not so tiny any more, the Wishing Fairy looked deep into his large blue eyes and told him she was proud of him.

That day, the ocean was filled with every flavor of ice cream you could imagine: vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, marshmallow, mint, strawberry, and cookie dough, just to name some of the most popular ones. There were also tons of toppings: from hot fudge to sprinkles to caramel and more cherries than you could count in ten lifetimes.

All of the creatures of the sea celebrated together with singing and dancing. Even the Wishing Fairy ate some ice cream while chatting with some old friends. After all, ice cream is the tastiest dessert of all, no matter where you live. :)

Labels: children's story, family, ocean, sea

Wake up sleepy child.
Kissy-moo, Kissy-moo
Moo, moo, moo...

I hear a cow in your bed.
Kissy-moo, Kissy-moo
Moo, moo, moo...

Do you hear a cow in your bed?
Kissy-moo, Kissy-moo
Moo, moo, moo...
-----------------------------------
Wake up sleepy child.
Kissy-baa, Kissy-baa
Baa, baa, baa...

I hear a sheep in your bed.
Kissy-baa, Kissy-baa
Baa, baa, baa...

Do you hear a sheep in your bed?
Kissy-baa, Kissy-baa
Baa, baa, baa...
-----------------------------------
Wake up sleepy child.
Kissy-ney, Kissy-ney
Ney, ney, ney...

I hear a horse in your bed.
Kissy-ney, Kissy-ney
Ney, ney, ney...

Do you hear a horse in your bed?
Kissy-ney, Kissy-ney
Ney, ney, ney...
-----------------------------------
Wake up sleepy child.
Kissy-meow, Kissy-meow
Meow, meow, meow...

I hear a cat in your bed.
Kissy-meow, Kissy-meow
Meow, meow, meow...

Do you hear a cat in your bed?
Kissy-meow, Kissy-meow
Meow, meow, meow...
------------------------------------
Wake up sleepy child.
Kissy-squeak, Kissy-squeak
Squeak, squeak, squeak...

I hear a mouse in your bed.
Kissy-squeak, Kissy-squeak
Squeak, squeak, squeak...

Do you hear a mouse in your bed?
Kissy-squeak, Kissy-squeak
Squeak, squeak, squeak...
-------------------------------------
Wake up sleepy child.
Kissy-ribbit, Kissy-ribbit
Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit...

I hear a frog in your bed.
Kissy-ribbit, Kissy-ribbit
Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit...

Do you hear a frog in your bed?
Kissy-ribbit, Kissy-ribbit
Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit...
-------------------------------------
Wake up sleepy child.
Kissy-rar, Kissy-rar
Rar, rar, rar...

I hear a bear in your bed.
Kissy-rar, Kissy-rar
Rar, rar, rar...

Do you hear a bear in your bed?
Kissy-rar, Kissy-rar
Rar, rar, rar...
-------------------------------------
Wake up sleepy child.
Kissy-chomp, Kissy-chomp
Chomp, chomp, chomp...

I hear an alligator in your bed.
Kissy-chomp, Kissy-chomp
Chomp, chomp, chomp...

Do you hear an alligator in your bed?
Kissy-chomp, Kissy-chomp
Chomp, chomp, chomp...
-------------------------------------
Wake up sleepy child.
Kissy-kiss, Kissy-kiss
Kiss, kiss, kiss...

I hear a mommy in your bed.
Kissy-kiss, Kissy-kiss
Kiss, kiss, kiss...

Do you hear a mommy in your bed?
Kissy-kiss, Kissy-kiss
Kiss, kiss, kiss...
-------------------------------------
It's time to wake up my sleepy child.
Kissy-kiss, Kissy-kiss
Kiss, kiss, kiss...

I hear a child waking up.
Kissy-kiss, Kissy-kiss
Kiss, kiss, kiss...

Do you hear a child waking up?
Kissy-kiss, Kissy-kiss
Kiss, kiss, kiss!

Labels: animals, children's story, kisses

A tired and lonely ladybug trudged along the edge of a crisp orange-tree leaf. She didn't understand why she felt so sad. The sky was blue and calm; however, its vastness overwhelmed her rather than providing comfort. The sun was bright and warm as well, but it made her feel tired instead of energized. She felt like going to bed even though it was daytime.

But the strangest thing happened as she was about to lie down to rest. She came upon an exhausted brown ant who was dying of thirst. She could hear his desperate gasps for something to drink. So, the ladybug offered him some water from her very lonely citrus tree. The ant drank like he would never stop and then all of a sudden... he collapsed.

The ladybug was confused. She asked herself, "Why did I waste even one of my precious leaves on that thankless, mean ant if he was just going to crawl up and die?" But just a few moments later, she realized that the ant was not really dead; rather, he had just curled himself into a ball where he fell fast asleep.

Since the ladybug could see that the ant was in fact still breathing, she decided to go and find him some food. She quickly found some fresh green leaves and returned to the branch where the ant slept. Within seconds, the ladybug covered the ant with two of the leaves to shade him from the hot, yellow sun. Though the ladybug did not have any particular commitment to this sleepy ant, she felt like fate had called her to wait by his side until he awoke.

So, as she waited next to her new companion, she counted big, fat, fluffy clouds. One cloud looked like an enraged eagle. Two others floated by like lounging lambs. She even noticed three crawling caterpillars off in the distance. To her surprise, four crying cats shed their tears out to the east. But five funny flamingos showed up next to lighten up her pensive mood. The clouds zoomed by, but the ant did not notice a single one. And so, the ladybug waited and waited and waited until the next morning finally came.

But, to the ladybug's frustration, the ant remained peacefully asleep. So, she counted some more clouds. She saw six frolicking frogs and seven gliding goats. She even noticed eight cricketing crickets and nine slithering snakes. Alas, she observed ten tip-toeing turtles. And this was all that her impatient imagination could muster. Her sleeping friend just had to wake up.

So, the ladybug started to make some noise. She decided to read to the ant to try to wake him up. "...out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar..." she read. But, to no avail, the ant continued to snore. Then, the ladybug decided to sing to the ant. At first she hummed quietly, but nothing came of it. So, very quickly her "la-la-la" got noticeably louder. Still... the ant would not budge.

Finally, the ladybug shouted into the ant's ear, "Wake up you silly ant! It's time to get up!" So, the ant rolled over and said, "Well, you don't have to be rude about it." And since the ant was wide awake now, he decided to eat breakfast with the satisfied ladybug. As they ate, the ladybug told the ant all about the clever clouds up in the sky and of the appetizing tale about the very hungry caterpillar.

The two insects continued to chat about this and that... and before long, they began to feel as if they had been friends for an eternity. The ant thanked the ladybug for helping him when he had been left for dead while the ladybug assured the ant that it was the least she could do. And for the first time in a long time, the ant realized she was no longer sad.

Eventually, after so much talking, the two insects got bored. So, the ladybug and the ant decided to leave the fragrant orange-tree to look for a rainbow and a flowing stream where they could go for a swim. Along their journey, they spotted eleven dancing dinosaurs and twelve pretentious pandas.

THE END

***story quote from Eric Carle's beloved "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

Labels: bugs, children's story, eric carle, insects