Ralfie and Jemima

Ralfie and Jemima

Sunday 30 April 2017

Mother's Goodnight Ritual




Ralfie Hazelnut is spending a night at the Peachblossoms'. He and the cubs have spent the afternoon playing games and now it is time to get ready for bed.



As you can see, Portia's sheep are fast asleep.



Orangine Peachblossom has already placed Ralfie's cozy sleeping bag onto the floor between Paul and Portia's beds. 

The only one who doesn't seem ready for bed is Ralfie.



"Stop wiggling and hitting me with your legs, Ralfie!" orders Paul. 

"Doing parent stuff is harder than I thought..." he says to himself. Ralfie is so energetic! Paul didn't imagine it would be that hard to take the clothes off a baby squirrel.



In the meantime, Portia has taken off her dress and placed it on the chair in the corner.



She lets Ralfie hop into her bed while Paul takes off his dungarees.

"Do your mommy and daddy read you stories and show you picture books and give you hugs and kisses and warm glasses of milk and tuck you in at night at all??" Ralfie asks Portia with very little hope. He is suddenly missing his parents very much...

"Why of course they do. I mean, not exactly all of those things. But Daddy sometimes reads us stories and Mummy has a special goodnight ritual for us," Portia replies.

"Huh? Goodnight what?" asks Ralfie.



Instead of an answer, Portia walks to the dresser and takes a large cardboard box off the top shelf.



Paul lays his clothes on top of Portia's dress as tidily as possible. Then he pauses. His red scarf looks like a curled up cobra about to pounce...



"Here, look," explains Portia to Ralfie. "Before we go to sleep, Mummy tucks us in and gives us our magical key to Dreamland. The key with the pink gem is mine."



"Ooooh!" says Ralfie intrigued. "And what happens then?" 

"Then," Portia continues, we lie in our beds and imagine the door to Dreamland. It is right in front of you, you know. You just have to close your eyes. Once you see it, all you need to do is use the key to open it and then you can walk around Dreamland the entire night and do whatever you want."

"Wow!" whispers Ralfie in amazement. "Whatever I want..."



Paul has managed to free himself from the red cobra's deadly stare and give his stuffed animal a goodnight kiss. Now Portia tucks him in.



"Thanks Portia," says Paul. Then he adds, "Porsh? Where are you going to sleep tonight?
"What do you mean?" His sister replies.



Then she realizes what Paul is talking about. Ralfie has fallen asleep in Portia's bed with his fuzzy little paw around her key.



She didn't even have time to explain to him that after ten minutes Mummy comes back in, puts the magic keys back into the box and gives them a goodnight kiss...



"He looks like he's unconscious, Porsh! It must be from all that wiggling and jiggling around when I undressed him. That would wear anybody out!" says Paul.



Suddenly Mrs Peachblossom enters the room.

"Hello, my dears!" she says with a smile. "I see you have all gotten ready for bed!" she praises them.



"Mother, I'll have to sleep on the FLOOR tonight!" wails Portia. "Ralfie fell asleep in my bed!"



Orangine lifts up the pink blanket and takes the gold key out of Ralfie's hand. Then she and her daughter stand and stare for a moment at the chubby little squirrel lying on his tummy and breathing so peacefully.



"Aren't babies lovely?" says Orangines quietly. "You and your brother's legs were just as short when you were little!"

"Yeah, Mum, he's adorable, but WHERE am I going to sleep tonight??" urges Portia.



"Don't fuss, darling," says Mrs Peachblossom while gently picking Ralfie up into her arms and sliding him into his sleeping bag. 

"You don't need any magic to handle a baby squirrel once it's asleep."



"See?" she says while carefully laying the Ralfie-cocoon onto the floorboards. "Easy peasy."



Portia cuddles up in bed and watches her mother give Ralfie a tender goodnight kiss. She is happy to have such a gentle and calm mother. Hopefully she can become like her some day.



"Goodnight my dears! I love you!" says Orangine before turning off the lights.



Dear friends, have a wonderful week!

(And if you ever find a baby squirrel sleeping in your bed,
please retrieve it as gently as Orangine Peachblossom.)

🌜   đŸč đŸŒ  🌛

Portia and Orangine's dresses were made by Jill
Penguin bedding set and carpet made by Kathy.


  

14 comments:

  1. Hi Nina! That´s really sweet.Thanks for such a cute story. It is one of this stories that make you feel good. A perfect story for bed time.I enjoyed looking at your pictures. Some scenes are so cute and others are so funny! I laughed at the red scarf that Paul thought it looked like a cobra.
    I love the idea of the key to Dreamland as a goodnight ritual.No wonder Portia would like to be like her mother. Ms.Peachblossom seems to be a wonderful mother with great ideas.
    Hope they all had sweet dreams!

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    1. Hello Cutata, thank you for reading this story and for your kind words! Portia and Paul are very creative children, so stories like the one about the key to Dreamland really fuel their imagination. Orangine knows this and made up the story to help them relax. It helps most of the time, and in Ralfie's case, I guess, it was instantaneous!! :D

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  2. Oh my goodness- Little Ralfie is a bundle of cuteness. Lovely sweet photos and bedtime story. Is that a little blue car in the background?- there are so many cute little details.

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    1. Thank you, Sarah! Ralfie is the cutest, I agree!! :))

      You are right, what you saw in the background is a miniature blue Bobby Car! Classic Bobby Cars are red, but this is a special "Kikaninchen" edition. ("Kikaninchen" is a blue rabbit from a German children's channel.)

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    2. Lovely little car- perfect size!

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    3. By the way, the car was also featured in "Prince & Princess Tomato". Happy May Day!

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  3. Cute story I think I would like one of those keys for myself lol. Beautiful pictures.
    Hugs Maria

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    1. Hello Maria, thank you. :) I asked the children whether they would lend you their keys sometime and they said yes!

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  4. Was fĂŒr ein wunderschöner Post... so ein SchlĂŒssel fĂŒr's Traumland ist wirklich schön. Irgendwie verstĂ€ndlich, dass Portia ihrer Mama nacheifern möchte, wenn sie groß ist. Aber nun leise... pssssst... und auf Zehenspitzen davon... nicht, dass wir die Drei noch aufwecken...

    Liebe GrĂŒĂŸe
    Birgit

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    1. Orangine ist dankbar fĂŒr Deine RĂŒcksicht! :O)

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  5. This was really a perfect story for bed time. I would like to have one of those keys. I enjoyed your photos. Thanks for sharing.

    Hugs, Sirkka

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    1. Keys to Dreamland are very rare, but if Orangine finds another one, she will give it to you!!

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  6. Hi Nina! What a lovely bed time ritual these children have!

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    1. Hello Emily, the cubs enjoy it a lot!

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