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Daddy's Day With Jeffrey Daddy was at work. He was always going to work and then not coming home for a long time. Poor Daddy. By the time he gets home, he’s always too tired to play. How could he play with Jeffrey if he was always going to work? One day Mommy was preparing lunch for Jeffrey when the front door opened and in walked Daddy right there in the middle of the day. "Wow," Jeffrey exclaimed. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" "Hi, Jeffrey!" Daddy shouted. He picked Jeffrey up and gave him the biggest hug ever. "Hi, Honey," Mommy said. Daddy gave Mommy the biggest hug ever, too! "Hi, Honey," Daddy said. Daddy and Mommy always called each other "Honey." But that’s not their real names. Their real names are Mommy and Daddy. Everybody knows that. They just like to call each other "Honey." They’re silly, don’t you think? "I came home early so I could spend the afternoon with Jeffrey," Daddy announced. "Wonderful!" Mommy said. "You’ve been working way too many hours lately. You could use a little time off." "Yeah, Jeffrey and I are going to play after lunch, right Jeffrey?" "Right!" "Wait a minute, you guys. Jeffrey, you need a nap after lunch. You can play with Daddy after your nap." "I don’t want a nap today, Mommy. I feel fine. Besides, I want to play with my Daddy!" "It’ll be ok, Honey," Daddy said. "If Jeffrey gets too tired, we’ll just stop for a rest or a nap." "No naps," shouted Jeffrey. "He needs a nap," said Mommy. "We’ll just play for a little while," Daddy said. "No, I want to play a big while with Daddy," said Jeffrey. "Ok, Jeffrey," said Mommy. "You can play with Daddy if you eat all your vegetables." "Ok, I like vegables." Well, in no time at all, Jeffrey finished his vegables and so did Daddy. So off they went to play. Mommy said goodbye and then do you know what Mommy did? You’ll never guess. She took a nap! "Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe!" Mommy snored. Daddy and Jeffrey decided to go to the park in town. First they stopped at the ice cream store for a treat. Then they went to the park and sat on a bench together to eat their ice cream. At first, Jeffrey ate his real fast because he likes ice cream a lot. But then he began to eat it slower. And slower. And slower. "Daddy, I can’t eat anymore," Jeffrey said with a yawn. "OK, I’ll finish it for you, Jeffrey," Daddy said. By the time Daddy finished the treat, Jeffrey was sound asleep in Daddy’s lap. "Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe!" Jeffrey said. Well, Daddy thought to himself, I’ll just have to play with a sleeping Jeffrey. So Daddy closed his eyes for a minute to see if he could think of a fun game to play with a sleeping Jeffrey. Next thing you know, Daddy was carrying Jeffrey into the open fields outside of town and then down a beautiful, wooded path. In the distance, he could see another town. While Daddy was walking, he was watching the town in the distance when suddenly a giant tiger jumped up near the town. That’s the biggest tiger I ever saw, exclaimed Daddy. Too bad Jeffrey is asleep or he could see it. It’s big enough to be a saber-tooth tiger. Just then the tiger opened his huge mouth and roared like thunder. Nope, he’s not a saber-tooth tiger, decided Daddy. He’s just a really big regular tiger.
Just then a bunch of big monkeys came running down the path near where Daddy and Jeffrey were hiding. The monkeys were scared because the tiger was chasing them! One of the monkeys patted Daddy and Jeffrey on the head as he ran past. He must be trying to tell us to run away, decided Daddy. Daddy decided to take Jeffrey back to town where they would be safe from the tiger. He ran all the way and so he was tired by the time he got back to the park. But he wasn’t too tired to notice that the town had changed. Instead of old, crumbly houses and stores and other buildings, everything looked brand new. Instead of dingy old gray colors, everything was colored with brilliant colors. Oranges, reds, purples, greens, yellows and bright blues. Daddy thought it all looked wonderful. Jeffrey didn’t say anything because he was still sleeping. Daddy was enjoying the beauty of all the buildings when at last he returned to the bench where he and Jeffrey had enjoyed the ice cream. Daddy decided to sit down and rest, and so he did. Daddy closed his eyes and said, "Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe!" Jeffrey opened his eyes and stopped saying, "Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe!" "Wake up, Daddy! You’re supposed to play with me, remember?" Daddy opened his eyes and stopped saying, "Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe! Honk-shoe!" Daddy looked around and all the buildings were changed back into the dingy old buildings. "Did you enjoy your nap, Jeffrey?" "Yes, Daddy." "Did you enjoy your dreams?" "Yes, Daddy!" "What part did you like best about your dreams?" "I liked the tiger the best." "Me too, Jeffrey." The End. Return to gazebo A colorful art print featuring the imaginary tiger that appears in this
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Suddenly,
the tiger started running across the fields toward Daddy and Jeffrey.
Daddy said, "Jeffrey, we have to hide here in the trees, because a giant
tiger is coming." Jeffrey didn’t wake up so Daddy crouched down near some
bushes and waited for the tiger to run by.