Jonas The Sleepy Boy

This is a story about a cute little baby and loving parents!

When the sun rises, the mountains seem to give a huge yawn; the wind helps the trees shake the dew off their leaves and the flowers raise their heads to the sunlight. Everything seems to wake up suddenly—well almost everything! Baby Jonas does not wake up when the sun rises. Instead, he sleeps in until it is very late. Mom and Dad sometimes even get bored waiting for their son to wake up from his sweet slumber. But Jonas will usually not open his eyes until the morning is nearing its end. When he finally does wake up, Mom always runs excitedly to the cradle of her sleepy baby, tilting her head into the basket to greet him with kisses that make Jonas giggle.

Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!

And he keeps giggling as long as Mom is planting kisses on his chubby cheeks. Dad always walks into the room singing a song he wrote:

“My sleepy baby has woken UP,
I will fill him with kisses and HUGS,
and if he wakes up SOON, SOON, SOON,
we can eat ice cream with a SPOON!”

After that song, Jonas jumps out of bed into Mom’s arms. He loves ice cream so much that he cannot help but want to eat it all the time. He imagines sweet pancakes and strawberry ice cream for breakfast. He can almost taste them in his mouth.

“Before the delicious food, you should wash your hands and face,” Mom always says.

“After washing, you should brush your teeth,” Dad says.

“But hurry, we’ve missed you so much,” Mom says.

“Kiss kiss, Mom.” Jonas can barely speak, “Kiss Kiss Dad.” Mom and Dad both know what Jonas is asking for and they do not hesitate to fulfil his wish. Mwah! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah! Then Jonas yawns like a mountain, and stretches up his arms as if he wants to touch the ceiling, then shakes his head as if he is a big boy, and tries to walk to the bathroom. But he cannot really walk yet, so he toddles over slowly, reaching out to the wall for support. Mom and Dad help him stand up the little chair that Dad has put there for him to reach the mirror. He washes his hands just like Mom has taught him. First, he fills his hands with soap, and on the palms of his hands he draws a moving car wheel: “Broom, broom, broom, broom!” Then he places them under the water and lets all the soap fall.

“Now the little face,” Jonas remembers “as my mom taught me.” First, he takes soap, then he covers his whole face carefully in a clockwise direction: “Tick tock, tick tock,” Jonas laughs as he sees the beard the soap makes on his face. Then he uses water to wash off the soap beard and without losing any time, he picks up his toothbrush. His mom has already put toothpaste on the brush. Dad, who is a dentist, taught him how he had to take care of them. He holds Jonas’s hand and guides it along as he brushes his teeth: first the front teeth—up and down a few times, very carefully, then the teeth on both sides, up and down a few times, very carefully. His Dad makes him brush and brush until all his teeth are shiny and clean. Then Dad gives him water to rinse his mouth out. Jonas knows he was not supposed to swallow the water he has used to rinse his mouth, so he spits it out. He rinses and rinses until there is nothing left. Finally, Dad holds his tiny hands and teaches him how to clean the toothbrush with his thumb.

Jonas loves the whole routine! “Sweet pancakes! Strawberry ice cream!” he starts screaming. His words are not very clear, but Mom and Dad know exactly what he is trying to say. At the breakfast table, Mom serves the delicious breakfast, but first, she checks that everything is fine.

“Can I see those hands?” Mom asks.

“Clean!” says Jonas, showing open palms.

“And your teeth?” Dad asks.

“White!” says Jonas, with a big smile. Then with kisses and hugs, they let him have breakfast because although he is a little sleepyhead, he is always a good boy full of joy. As you can see from this short story, little Jonas loves his mom and dad very much, just as they love him.