One winter, a family of Ground Squirrels were settling into their tree to hibernate, and Kiddo Squirrel was not happy about having to stay in all winter. “Listen, Kiddo…” said Father Squirrel, “We’ll tell you when it’s OK to go out.” “Fine,” said Kiddo, in a way that meant “this isn’t fine at all.”
Sure enough, the next day Kiddo woke up his parents. “Can we go out yet?” Father replied, “No! Go back to bed.” This totally convinced Kiddo, who never bothered his parents again.
Just kidding. The next day, Kiddo was back. “Can we go out yet?” And again, Father replied, “No!” And the next day, “Can we go out yet?” Father reacted about how you’d expect. “Seriously? No! Go back to bed!” This went on every night for a week, until Mother and Father got that faraway look parents get when their kids manage to find their last nerve.
“Tell you what,” said Mother Squirrel, “I want to make sure we have enough acorns stored up. You can go out after you’ve counted every single one.” At that, Kiddo ran to the tree version of their basement and went to work. He counted and counted for hours, until, eventually, Kiddo had fallen fast asleep.
“Nice one,” said Father. Mother Squirrel smiled. “When times are tough, it’s good to have something you can count on.”
THE END