Jumping Jack Flash

Don't you feel your kids are always jumping around ? Do you like them to jump ? Do you discipline them to know when they can or cannot jump ? Do you simply secret wish they would stop jumping ? Do they like to jump anywhere ? Or do they prefer trampolines and inflatable castles ? Do they jump anywhere ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The dragon had been chasing the Little Girl. The dragon had the Little Girl for three times in it's big mouth. But the Little Girl managed to get out. She always jumped in the right moment just as the dragon opened the mouth to start chewing.
This time was no different. The dragon flew over the Little Girl and caught her with it's big mouth wide open. the Little Girl jumped out again through the space between two big teeth.
And jumped into the air.

The Little Girl landed on some soft leaves, and she continued jumping from leaf to leaf using the lift off of the leaf. And there goes the Little Girl, another jump.
The dragon was confused and flying left and right, up and down, he could not catch the Little Girl. The Little Girl jumped from giant leaf to giant leaf.
The leaves came close to a waterfall, and the Little Girl jumped right into the waterfall.
The dragon flew by one time and did not see the Little Girl hidden in the waterfall.
The dragon flew by two times and did not see the Little Girl.
The dragon flew by three times and did not see the Little Girl. The dragon flew away.
The Little Girl jumped once more from the waterfall onto the leaves. With each jump the Little Girl jumped higher and higher.
She jumped all the way home, and told Papi the story of the hungry dragon.

The Bird's Nest

Has your child asked you about an empty nest ? Or why can he see the nest ? Why does the tree not have any more leaves to hide the nest ? Why are there no birds near the nest ? Did you explain the seasons ? Or migration of birds ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

- Look Papi! A bird's nest! Shouted the Little Girl from the backseat of the car.
- Papi, look, another bird's nest. Continued the Little Girl.
- Oh! Papi, Look, look, a bird's nest. Shouted the Little Girl now getting very impatient for not having anybody paying her attention.

Papi was wandering what was the Little Girl talking about, when he noticed that the winter trees without leaves revealed the birds nests. It was a interesting detail he never noticed.
- Yes Little Girl, Papi sees now the birds nests. Said Papi soothingly to calm the Little Girl.
- Look, Look! Another bird's nest! Shouted the Little Girl now in a more excited tone.
- Yes Little Girl, the trees opened their branches for the birds to fly away. Explained Papi.
- I don't see the Birds Papi. Said the Little Girl disappointed.
- The birds moved to a place more warm, not so cold, like grandma's house. Tried to explain Papi.
- Why ? The Little Girl brought her favorite question.
- Well, the birds do not have warm clothes like the jackets of the Little Girl, so they have to go to warmer places .
- Why ? The birds do not like winter ? asked the Little Girl.
- It's not a matter of liking, it's that they can't live in a cold place, they get snow on their wings and fall to the ground.
- No, that can't bee, they fly only after the snow falls. The Little Girl shook her head.
- Look at the bird's nest, do they have a roof ?
- Eheheh! That is funny Papi, off course not, the birds need to fly and the roof stops them flying. Explained the Little Girl.
- So, when the birds are sleeping, the snow will cover the little birds and they will be very cold.
- Papi, let's get the birds nest and put in the house, they can stay in my room. The Little Girl was very proud with the solution.
- And how will the birds fly to the nest ? You leave the windows open for the cold and birds come in to your room ?
- Ah! Ok! That is unfair!

The White Butterfly

Do your kids ask for bedtime stories ? Do you read them ? Do you search for books to have that night ritual ? Do you improvise ? Do you ask them for the first sentence and then you continue ? Do they interrupt you ? Do you continue the story after they fall asleep ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The great oak tree stood majestic in the garden. Covering the ground around the oak tree we could see many golden, yellow and red leaves. The tree was big, leaves were everywhere except for really far away from the tree. The great oak tree looked old and sad, it had no leaves, except for one small white leaf.
The Little Girl looked at the great oak tree.
"Are you sad big tree ?", asked the Little Girl, but the great oak tree did not answer back.
"Are you cold big tree ?", asked the Little Girl, and once more the great oak tree did no answer back.
"Do you want to play with me ?", asked the Little Girl, and once more the great oak remained silent.
The Little Girl did not wait for any answer from the tree, and she ran to the great oak tree. She ran around the great oak tree singing happily.

A great oak tree lived in the garden,

A little girl it could see was the warden,

And when all the leaves were absent

The great oak tree stood alone and silent.

It was then that the Little Girl saw the single white leaf on the great oak tree. She looked at the white leaf and wondered how it got there. Could it be a winter leaf ?

The Little Girl looked for something to help her get up the great oak tree. She found a ladder nearby and brought the ladder close to the big oak tree. First the right foot on the ladder, it looked like the ladder was secure and safe, then left foot on the ladder and the little girl climbed up. She moved to the big branches, and chose the branch closest with the white leaf. The Little Girl crawled on the branch and approached the small white leaf.

When the Little Girl was real close to the white leaf, the small white leaf opened into to sparkling white leaves. It was a small white butterfly that start flying when the Little Girl approached. The Little Girl looked surprised at the beautiful sparkling white butterfly as it flew around the big oak tree. The white butterfly looked like a snowflake that was happily flying the great oak tree.

The Little Girl fell of the big oak tree, luckily she landed on a big pile of golden, yellow and red leaves. The pile of leaves softened the Little Girl's fall. The Little Girl let herself stay on top of the pile of leaves and looked at the small sparkling white butterfly as it flew around the big oak tree.

The Little Girl flapped her arms as if she was flying, and the cleared the leaves around her showing the green grass. She left two green wings around her as the leaves cleared with the arm movement. The Little Girl had now two beautiful green wings and could fly with the butterfly. The small white butterfly was happily flying around the great oak tree. The Little Girl was happily flying behind the small white butterfly.

The small white butterfly flew once, twice, three times around the great oak tree, and then flew towards the church tower. The Little Girl flew after the small white butterfly. When they arrived at the church clock tower it started to ring and tell time. It was 12 o'clock, and the bell rang 12 times. With each hour a small group of white butterflies flew away from the church tower. When the 12 times had rang, there was a great number of small white butterflies flying around.

All the butterflies surrounded the Little Girl, and the Little Girl went back to the great oak tree. The Little Girl sat on the garden and looked at all the small white butterflies flying around the great oak tree. It looked like it was snowing, and the snow was alive around the great oak tree.

The great oak tree now looked very happy with all the small white butterflies flying around. Some butterflies sat on the great oak tree branches and looked like a thousand of beautiful white leaves. Other butterflies continued to fly and looked like it was snowing. the great oak tree was now covered in white foliage.

A great oak tree lived in the garden,

A little girl it could see was the warden,

And with all the butterflies flying around,

The happy oak tree was a playground.

The Little Girl sang happily her rhyme and went back home. Papi had said to the Little Girl that Christmas this year was not going to be a white Christmas. But Papi was wrong, Christmas this year was a white Christmas after all.

The Volcano

I always feel like my children are adventuring when we go to a theme park. Do you take your children to theme parks ? Do they get a feeling of exploring a new world ? Does it feel like an adventure always bringing new surprises ? Do your kids feel like it'S real life for them ? Do you role-play the adventure with them ? Do you make them play their part in the adventure ? Do you tell stories the next days enhancing the experience of the memories created ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The Little Girl entered the dense forest. The forest was dense and as she walked through she had to get the giant palm leaves of her way. She couldn't see except for the next giant leaf in front of her. She remembered stories of people who used the giant leafs as plates to eat food. It was said the food was tastier when you ate the vegetables off the giant leafs with your own hands. Fried bananas on the leaves with rice was the favorite food of the Little Girl's friend.
She wondered what fruits she could see on the plants, she believed she saw bananas, mangoes and coconuts. And she liked all those fruits.
Another giant leaf in front of the Little Girl. The leaves were so big that it was hard for the Little Girl to push the leaves so she could pass. A monkey came by the Little Girl, he was standing in a branch just above the banana tree leaves. The monkey looked curious at the Little Girl, and the Little Girl looked back curious at the monkey.

The monkey gave a big shout and the Little Girl stopped. When the Little Girl looked down in front of her, she could see a river, and she was on a ledge. The monkey saved the little girl from falling. The Little Girl gave the monkey a big smile. The monkey came down from the branch and gave a piece of mango to the Little Girl. That piece of mango was so sweet, the Little Girl delighted herself with the sweet mango.

She started climbing down the ledge towards the river, and the monkey led her way down through a safe passage. The Little Girl climbed down the ledge excited, she could see other kids crossing the river in wooden rafts. She wanted to cross the river in a raft.
As she approached the river, there was a dock with an old man with a big beard. The old man looked like Nicholas, but was not dressed in the red suit the Little Girl found very funny. But it was not snowing, the red suit would be to hot now.
The old man said: "Hello Little Girl, do you have something for me ?". The Little Girl remembered the coin Papi gave her. She fetched the silver shiny coin from her pocket and gave it to the old man. the old man pulled a wooden raft and helped the Little Girl get on top. He then pushed the raft to the river with a long staff. The Little Girl was excited has she crossed the river. The monkey sat on the raft, sticking it's fingers in the water as to test the temperature. She reached the other side of the river and continued her journey. The monkey followed her.
The trail was full of dangers, first a big pit, the Little Girl needed to swing on a rope to cross the pit. The was a muddy slide, as the Little Girl slide down, she could feel the increasing speed and the shouts of the monkey behind her. They soon reached the bottom of the slide and continued the muddy trail. They had to push many balls that where in their path to reach the other side. Once they reached it they found a huge net which they climbed. A narrow passage was in front of them, and the Little Girl just ran sideways into it. Soon after they reached the end of the trail, and they saw a majestic volcano.
Guarding the path to the volcano was a mighty dragon. Each of the dragon's teeth was the size of the little girl. But that did not inspire any fear on the Little Girl's heart, instead she leaned forward with the monkey and jumped on each giant leaf surrounding the mighty dragon, the leaves acted like a trampoline and the Little girl jumped high enough to go over the head of the mighty dragon as it breathed the fire. She followed the monkey. She jumped once on the dragon's head and slide down the dragon's tail. She was again in the path of the volcano, and nothing more to stop her from reaching it.
The volcano laid in front of them, and the Little Girl started to climb, but the climb was slippery, for the volcano spit a liquid mud that made the climbing difficult. The monkey could not climb any further, but the Little Girl did not quit trying, she continued to climb. At a moment it looked like for each step she gave forward that she slide back two steps. But she continued, she insisted, and as the climb became more slanted the Little Girl climbed more slowly and more carefully selecting with precision each placeholder for the hands and feet. She climbed, some moments she almost felt quit, but somehow she felt encouraged to continue. She saw other kids failing to reach the top, one after another she saw them returning to the volcano base. But not her, she continued and pressed on with all her courage and determination.
She reached the top of the volcano! She sat for a while, admiring the surrounding, seeing everybody from high above, seeing the other kids failing halfway. She was victorious. Today was her day.