Today as my kids and I were cleaning up I was reminded of a story I loved when I was a little girl.
I would sit on my Gramma's lap and listen as she read. It was one of my favorites and I chose it over and over. She read with great expression, too!
Maybe that is why it helped me so much, later on in life...?
The lesson stuck anyway.
I want to share it with ya'll. It might not be exactly right but it is as I remember it and you will get the point, I think! :)
The Little Brown Mouse
The little brown mouse with a little brown dress loved to dance and she loved red!! She danced to bed at night and danced out of bed in the morning. [Without coffee???? Wow, she is amazing] She danced through the streets to market and she danced home again. She only stopped to eat her lunch and dinner!
She didn't clean and she certainly DIDN'T sweep the floor!
But one day Grandma Mouse stopped by for a visit! She was beautiful and wise and VERY clean! She did not sit down because Little Brown Mouse only had one chair and it was piled high with 'stuff' and was very dusty. Grandma Mouse ran her finger over the chair and said softly,'Why Little Brown Mouse, you should clean first and then dance in a clean house!'
But after Grandma Mouse left did Little Brown Mouse listen?
NNNOOO!!
She said to herself;
'Tomorrow, I will clean and scrub
all day in the house,
But today I will dance
like a Little Brown Mouse!'
And she danced out of the house and down the street to market. On the way there she passed the Dress Maker's Shop and there in the window was the most beautiful red dress the Little Brown Mouse had ever seen!
She stopped and looked at the dress. Then she said to herself, 'I MUST have that dress!' So she went in and bought it. They wrapped it up real pretty and she danced all the way home with the package under her arm.
At home she took the dress carefully from the box and slipped it on. It was perfect! Twirling and spinning and skipping, she danced all day. That night she put it carefully in the box and went to bed.
In the morning she awoke and slipped the beautiful red dress on.
It was SO beautiful she said to herself,
'I can't scrub the house in this dress so I will go to Market first'.
So she danced out the door and down the street. On the way to market she went past the Florist and there in the window she saw a beautiful Red Rose Hair Clip.
She stopped to look at that hair clip. Then she said to herself
'I MUST have that Hair Clip!'
So she went in and bought it!
With the rose in her hair the Little Brown Mouse danced all the way home, stopping often to admire herself in the windows. At home she forgot about cleaning and danced the day away.
And Pretty, Wise Grandma Mouse stopped by again.
She didn't stay. Sadly she ran her finger over the table and said softly,
'Little Brown Mouse NEEDS to clean her house!'
But the Little Brown Mouse said to herself,
all day in the house,
But today I will dance
like a Little Brown Mouse!'
So she danced the day away.
The next morning the Little Brown Mouse awoke and clipped the Red Rose in her hair. She slipped on the pretty red dress and looked at herself in the mirror. Then she said to herself, 'I am to pretty to scrub my house,so instead I will go to Market first'.
So she danced down the street to Market.
On the way she passed the Shoe Makers Shop and there in the window she saw a sparkling pair of red shoes!
She stopped and looked at those shoes. Then she said to herself 'I MUST have those shoes'!! So she went in and bought those beautiful red shoes!
She danced all the way home! And she danced till dinner and she danced afterward. She danced far into the night. Finally she changed into her nightie and crashed into her bed!
In the morning the sun came in and woke the Little Brown Mouse. She sat on the edge of her bed tired and yawning. Then she saw her dress!! It was covered with dust! So was the rose. And her shoes were kicked off under the table and they looked terrible.
The little Brown Mouse got up, dressed in her brown dress. She picked up her Red Dress, shook off the dust and hung it in her closet, then she blew off the rose and put it in its box. She cleaned her shoes and set them in her closet.
And then she filled a bucket with hot, soapy water and with a rag she scrubbed her house til it shone!
Then she put on her red dress, her red shoes and her red rose and she went dancing about the house singing,
'Its better to rub and scrub
all day in the house
and dance at NIGHT
like a Little Brown Mouse!'
