Little Red Hens At Bedtime

Ever sit back and think about the little things you remember about your everyday routines? As a kid, you're rigid in how things need to get done. If one tiny part of your routine doesn't happen, it throws off your whole day.

Bedtime routines are the same way. It's hard to sleep if you don't have the routine right. Every night, we'd put our pajamas on then have a bedtime snack. After we had our food, my mom would sit us down, and we could read a story. Then, we'd get our bedtime drinks, and our parents would kiss us goodnight. If Mom came in, we'd say bedtime prayers. If Dad came in, we'd have hugs before we went to bed.

Even babysitters knew our night routines. It took me a long time to realize our parents were telling them what they had to do at night. With reading stories, I remember the babysitters reading more vividly than I do my parents. It's not that they went out a lot. It's how my memory works. I bet if you asked my sister or brother, they'd remember a different routine.

The story I remember my mom reading the most

The only story I remember my mom reading is the story of The Little Red Hen. It's one of my favorite stories. And I think anyone who's a single parent should read it to their kids once. It'll make them reflect on what their parents do for them.

The story's a simple one. A little red hen is on the farm with three friends: a cow, a dog, and a pig. (I think the original had different animals.). The hen starts gathering wheat and asks for help. Everyone says no. She says okay and moves on to the next chore.

Later, she's picking berries and asks for help. Once again, none of the animals want to help her. She says okay and moves on to the next chore.

All of the animals are hanging out at the little red hen's house, and she tidies up her house. Once again, she asks if anyone wants to help, and once again, everyone says no. So she says okay and moves on.

Later that night, the animals smell something amazing. There's a pie in the little red hen's oven. Each of the animals asks her for a piece of the pie.

"Why? You didn't help me when I asked," she said. So the other animals had to watch her enjoy the pie.

As an adult, it's still relevant

My current partner is a single father to two kids. There were days where I've seen him run around the house cleaning up while trying to run a business. I'd step in and help him when the house got trashed.

I'm often telling him he's acting too much like the little red hen when he has days where he's stressed out. He looked at me, confused, the first time he said it. Then he understood when I told him the story.

As the kids get older, I see him enforcing more rules so he's not running around like the little red hen. He now enforces more rules, especially when it comes to cleaning the house. One of my favorite rules is the one where friends can't come over until they've cleaned the house.

The Little Red Hen is a story that changes people. But you don't notice it until someone points it out to you.

So here is a challenge for anyone seeing a friend or a family member struggle. Find the story and give it to them. If you have a friend running around like the hen, they need to know. And they can change themselves and the way their lives are.