the giving mom
By Tiffany Winn Rueckert, Guest Contributor
I think Shel Silverstein probably had mothers in mind when he wrote this classic!
Emotionally and physically spent, I slumped onto the couch tonight unable to match the playful energy or relentless questions of my children. I had nothing to give.
As I sat quietly among the chaos, a toddler brought me a book from the library basket and said "read." I sat him on my lap and we began to read. Soon I found a red head next to me. I began to scratch the toddler's back and play with his hair. By the end of the story the toddler's eyes were closed and the red head was quiet.
The Daddy tucked his toddler in bed and the mommy stayed.
The quiet red head chose another book and read it aloud. Again and again.
Soon the big one joined and for over an hour the three of us sat in that spot where I had nothing to give. Book after book after book.
I remembered a certain old stump. "I wish that I could give you something . . . but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry."
"I don't need very much now, " said the boy, "Just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired."
"Well," said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, "Well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come Boy, sit down, sit down and rest."
And the boy did. And the tree was happy.
Copyright © 2015 by Rent's Due Publications
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, click a button on any page to send email with details of the request.