(Writ in the style of “The Piggy in the Puddle” — my favorite children’s story to read out loud.)
See the Mommy.
See her study.
See the Mommy in the middle of her silly little study.
See her cruddy, see her bloody
in the fuddy, duddy, study.
See her muddy, down and ruddy, in the silly little study.
See the Daddy,
chummy-tummy, chummy-tummy, chummy-tummy.
“Don’t you get all crummy, dummy, Mummy, Mummy, Mummy!
You are much to smart and sassy to be in the down and ruddies.
Research is oofy, research is poofy, research is oh-so oofy-poofy!
What you need is lots of HOPE.
But the Mommy answered, “oofy-poofy, oofy-poofy, NOPE!”
See her Babies.
Cutey-tooty, cutey-tooty, cutey-tooty.
“Just stop that writing – lighting, nighting, fighting, miting, citing!
You are much too Mommy Dearest not to be so often near us.
Research is willy, research is nilly, research is oh-so willy-nilly.
What you need is lots of HOPE.”
But the Mommy answered, “willy-nilly, willy-nilly, NOPE.”
Now they all stood by her research,
Right beside the murky research.
And they looked into the ‘search,
What a messy, murky, murch!
There was Mommy, cruddy and bloody,
getting beat up by her study.
She was reading, she was writing,
she was drinking to be wired.
She was listening, she was talking,
she was very very tired.
Said the Daddy,
Mummy-Mommy, you have made me very proud.
Said the Babies,
Mommy-Mummy, you are a sun behind a cloud.
Said the Mommy,
I thank you, but for this I am avowed.
See the Mommy and her study
with her family in a huddy.
They are loving, they are listening,
to the very daunting study.
Said the Mommy,
“Oofy-poofy, willy-nilly, oofy-poofy…
Indeed,” said tired Mommy,
“I think we lack in hope.”
But Daddy and the Babies answered,
“Oofy-poofy — NOPE!”
This post is a Monday Mission, to write a post in the style of a children’s story, as inspired by The Painted Maypole.
I’ve been feeling uninspired lately and needed to remind myself of a few things.
Mary Gilmour | 01-Dec-08 at 9:13 pm | Permalink
Wow! If this is you uninspired, I can’t wait to read the rest of your posts.
Well done. I have never run into Piggy before but whomever created him was nourished by Carroll and Kipling’s Just So Stories, I bet.
admin | 01-Dec-08 at 9:23 pm | Permalink
Thank you, Mary!
Actually, I’ve read the story so many times that I often find myself rhyming parts of the story in my head throughout the day… when I saw the Mission, it was an easy jump to make!
I never made the connection to Just So Stories, but you’re absolutely on the mark that ‘Piggy in the Puddle’ has that same ballad sense to it. Piggy’s story is that she loves the mud, her family worries that she needs soap, and finally, they all just give up and realize that everyone is happiest joining her for a dip in the mud. Maybe not a great parallel to a Mommy doing a dissertation, but I tried…
Painted Maypole | 01-Dec-08 at 10:55 pm | Permalink
Hello there! Thanks for playing along and this was great, even though I’ve never heard of the story. Must look it up at the library!
And look! We both live in the NOLA area (OK, you obviously already knew that) and we hang around in some of the same places around the blogosphere. Cool. Glad to meet you!
alejna | 02-Dec-08 at 7:49 pm | Permalink
That was brilliant, and loads of fun!
(And it reminds me that I need to get going on my own oofy-poofy research…)