Bedtime Story (6/6/2018)

Quite often, the children I teach in my day job seem to wish their lives away, wanting to be older.  And yet, once you reach my age, you're more often than not wishing you could be younger again!  So, here's a story all about cherishing the age you are, right now.

You can also listen to this story as a podcast.

"I Wish I Was Older"

I wish I was older,

Like my big brother, Jack.

He leaves the house,

With a bag on his back,

And he heads to the park

With just his best mate -

No Mum or Dad needed,

And they stay out 'til late.

He's allowed out to play.

He's even allowed to the shops!

I have to have a parent with me,

Who decides when my fun stops.

I wish I was older,

So I could go out alone,

Wearing a cool watch like Jack's,

To check when it's time to go home.

I wish I was older,

Like my big brother, Jack.

He's got the height and coolness

That I seem to lack.

He gets to stay up later,

Whilst I go off to bed.

He knows all the answers

To the questions in my head.

He gets to go to the big school,

Where he has to wear a tie.

He shouts hello to the teenagers

As they go strutting by.

He even has a mobile phone

He can use to call his friends.

It must be great being Jack.

I bet the fun just never ends!

I wish I was older,

Like my big brother, Jack.

He can run laps of the park;

He goes whizzing round the track.

He's stronger and he's taller

And he's cleverer than me.

He's so grown up, I envy him;

That's what I long to be!

But then again, my brother

Gets more tired than I do.

The other day he said:

"I wish I had the energy you do!"

He gets a lot of homework,

which sounds pretty boring.

Sometimes he's still working,

Whilst I'm tucked in bed and snoring.

And Jack has lots of teachers,

Whereas I have just the one.

Jack doesn't like all of them,

Which can't make lessons fun.

And Jack seems to get worried

About whether he's cool enough.

I don't really think about

That kind of teenage stuff.

Besides, having Mum around

When I go to the park,

Isn't all that bad, really.

Mum always makes me laugh!

And Dad says being younger

Means I get away with things.

Being older means accepting

The responsibility that brings.

So, maybe it's okay

That I'm not older like Jack.

It'll happen before I know it,

Then I'll want to look back

At all the things I used to do,

When I was just a kid.

I'll smile and laugh as I remember

All the things I did.

But I get to do those things NOW;

Be young and silly and free.

I don't have responsibilities

Or worries niggling me.

Being older does look cool, but I mustn't forget 

That being a kid is loads of fun,

I won't grow up just yet!

THE END