A Tale of Three Water Bottles

Once upon a time there was a mother who had three children, a big girl with lots of ideas, a medium boy with lots of emotions, and a small, but zesty girl with a great desire to be included.  The big girl with lots of ideas happened to have a pink water bottle with a flip up top that she kept in her desk at school and brought home heavily chewed upon at the end of the school year. 

 The mother had a problem:  two children had water bottle fever.  They begged for water bottles of their own.  They whined.  They cried.  The created a tremendous fuss.  So the mother bought a cheap ten cent water bottle at a garage sale and had an even bigger problem.  Now there were two children with water bottles and one without, a child who refused to use the mother's water bottle even though she offered to loan it to him.  Plus, the water bottle from the garage sale had a screw on cap, which resulted in large spills of water all over the place.

The mother remembered seeing some interesting water bottles at Barnes and Nobles, so while out browsing the shelves one night, she checked, and found the perfect water bottle for preschoolers.  It was spill proof.  It was cute.  It was the perfect size, and the price, although greater than ten cents, wasn't outrageous.  She bought two, one in each of the youngest children's favorite colors.  

The medium boy with lots of emotion and the smallest, zesty girl loved their water bottles.  They carried them all around.  Dehydration was a thought of the past.  They could work the spill proof button.  The water bottles went in the dishwasher.  They were the perfect size to refill in the refrigerator filtration system.  

But the mother still had a problem.  The biggest girl with lots of ideas became frustrated that her siblings had nice, new water bottles, while she had to use a chewed up version.  She fussed.  She stewed. The mother ignored her.  She stomped.  She tried to trade the younger children.  She tried to purchase their water bottle with shiny quarters.  The mother put a stop to that and told her that her water bottle was just fine.  

But the biggest girl was smart, and crafty, and when her father offered to take her out for the afternoon to do some surfing in the freezing cold lake and go out to eat, she suggested eating at Barnes and Nobles, next to a display of water bottles.  She discussed with him how she felt left out, unimportant, and in great need of a new water bottle since hers was broken.  So her father bought a nice, shiny green water bottle.  

And that, my friends, is how we happen to have three cute water bottles and three happy, harmonious chidren (sometimes).   For the record, the water bottles are very nice, are frequently used and extremely well-loved.  The Banana, in particular, takes her "pink yater boddle" everywhere she goes.