Bumps on a Log
by
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"Noooooo!" we cried. "Grammie, pul-leeze! Just let us stay in our pajamas today. We don't want to go outside. Pul-leeze, Grammie!"
"Bumps on a log," she said. "Just a couple of bumps on a log." Her mouth got even more twisted. With her arms folded across her chest, she stood and stared out the door. She was tapping her foot...up and down...up and down...up and down. And her mouth was twisted about as much as a mouth could twist. Now it looked like a VERY LARGE pretzel.
"Bumps on a log," Grammie said. "Just a couple of bumps on a log." Her foot tapped up and down...up and down...up and down.
"Let's go outside," she said, "and take a walk in the woods. Look for treasures under rocks. Collect some spring flowers. Let's celebrate this lovely day!" Grammie put on her sneakers.
"Noooooo!" we moaned. "We don't want to get dressed today. We don't want to go for a walk. We don't want to look for treasures under rocks. We don't want to collect spring flowers. We just want to stay inside in our pajamas today. Pul-leeze, Grammie!"
Grammie turned on the radio. Loud crazy music blasted all through the house. "Come on! SILLY DANCE with me! Karis Brynn! Grady Wayne! Put on your dancing shoes and let's dance. Let's SILLY DANCE!"
Grammie jumped up and down, spun in circles and waved her arms in the air. She clapped her hands to the beat of the music. "Woo Hoo! SILLY DANCE with me!"
"Noooooo! Grammie! We don't want to silly dance today. Pul-leeze, Grammie!" Karis Brynn and Grady Wayne sat on the floor and refused to move---like two bumps on a log.
Grammie sang with the music. "La la la, loppa doodle dee! Karis Brynn and Grady Wayne, come dance with me!"
Her two darling grandchildren refused to move from their spot on the floor. Grammie danced around the house, from room to room. She sang at the top of her voice, "LA LA LA, LOPPA DOODLE DEE! KARIS BRYNN! GRADY WAYNE! COME DANCE WITH ME!"
Grammie shuffled right out the door...onto the deck...down the stairs...and into the yard. She danced in the clean and healthy fresh air. She did handstands in the warm sunlight. She did flips and cartwheels across the yard. And she danced and danced in the perfectly delightful and beautiful salubrious day.
While we scratached our heads and tried to figure out what "salubrious" meant, Grammie sang at the top of her voice. "LA LA LA, LOPPA DOODLE DEE!" And then she pleaded with us, "Karis Brynn and Grady Wayne! Pul-leeze come out and play with me!"
Who was this woman who called herself our grandmother? Amazed, all we could do was stare at her through the opened door. We watched as she danced in the clean and healthy fresh air; as she did handstands in the warm sunlight; as she did flips and cartwheels across the yard; and as she danced and danced, and spun and spun in what she seemed to think was a "perfectly delightful and beautiful salubrious day". We still hadn't figured out what "salubrious" actually meant, but we were starting to get a pretty good idea when Grammie began to sing at the top of her voice.
"LA LA LA, LOPPA DOODLE DEE! Karis Brynn and Grady Wayne! Pul-leeze come out and play with me!"
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About the Book
When Grammie comes to babysit on a beautiful spring day, she’s in for a big disappointment. No matter what she does to entice Karis Brynn and Grady Wayne to play with her, her two grandchildren refuse to participate! They won’t even change out of their pajamas. They just want to sit around like two bumps on a log.
They refuse to get dressed. They refuse to silly dance. They refuse to sing. They even refuse to go outside with Grammie to enjoy the beautiful, glorious, gorgeous spring day. She has never seen her two darling grandchildren behave like this before, and she’s not going to stand for it—not for another minute! Luckily, grandmothers are very resourceful.
You’ll be surprised to find out what happens when Grammie tells her darling grandchildren that they are “nothing but bumps on a log.” You’ll be even more amazed to see what Karis Brynn and Grady Wayne do when Grammie turns the tables and becomes the biggest bump on a log of all. Will she shake them out of their blues, or will the beautiful day be ruined?
About the Author
Susan L. McElaney is a retired registered nurse. She is the author of Me, Myself and Ivy, a novel for tweens and young adults. She also is the coauthor of two memoirs: With Broken Wings and Stolen Halo. Susan is a mother of three and grandmother of five and lives with her husband, Jim, in Norwich, Connecticut.