Slightly Mad Mummy: Entry 1

“Sometimes my daydreams work through the hopes, dreams, issues etc. surrounding our HLP children via the medium of painfully bad rhyming nonsense… (we’ve all been there, right?!)”.

It was late afternoon and all over the town
The kids were not up, they were all sitting down
None were off playing, none had heads deep in books
All eyes were on tellies with zombie-fied looks
(For reasons of fairness it has to be said
some were watching shows on their tablets instead
But the point is the same, the gist still is that here
These kids had not one sole inventive idea.)

But before I say more there’s something I must do
I confess what I’ve said is not strictly quite true
For there’s one little lady, alone in the hall
For which tablets and telly they hold no thrall at all
Her name, Betty Books, and she stood lost in thought
While the others watched small screen debris of some sort

“Betty” they would call “Betty, come on in here”
But Betty she wouldn’t, she was perfectly clear
(That is the thing about Miss Betty Books
She would not to be put off by a few funny looks)
Thoughts and daydreams she enjoyed having more
Than watching TV, which she saw as a bore

So apart from Betty (who they all viewed as wrong)
There was little brain power being used by the throng
No brilliant schemes were created that day
The tablets and tellies had got in the way
Not one novel thought had been bandied about
Then all of a sudden the lights just went out!
The telly went black and the tablets went down
There were murmurs of audible shock in the town
Some reacted quite badly, they were visibly shaken
They felt quite abandoned, quite frankly forsaken

But one person there was not fazed in the least
Betty leapt at the chance of a brainpower feast
She searched her dress pocket for a notebook and pen
To work out how to get all the lights on again
She scribbled her notes and, despite failing light,
Out popped a plan that was terribly bright

She rushed up to get a few tools from her shed
(conveniently located right next to her bed)
Betty’s lightbulb moment, well it gave off a spark
And she knew they would soon be no more in the dark
She’d use pedal power, turn it to energy
To light up the bulbs so again they could see

And the plan it did work, it was perfectly suited
For getting the lights and the tablets re-booted
“More!” they all cried, when they saw that first flicker
Betty put her head down and she cycled much quicker

People from far afield came to stand and to see
Her invention in action (though they still favoured watching tv)
Betty sensed this consensus quite clearly and thought:
“If no love of brainpower’s there, it could be taught”
So she punctured the silence with just a few words
Not a shout, but just forceful enough to be heard
She said to the group gathered round her that day
“What if you found a really fun way
To stretch all those brain cells, to give it some welly,
To give them more food for thought than just the telly?”
The crowd gave a mumble, then all was quite quiet
(well, she hadn’t exactly expected a riot)
Then one voice, really soft, timid as a shrew
Whispered: “show us how, please; show us what we can do.
Because I for one, (perhaps others agree?)
Am beginning to get pretty bored with TV”

“Then do as I do, except in your own way”
Were the words of advice she gave to them that day
So they all got to work thinking up their own plans
That turned them into heroes, not bleak telly fans
They came up with their own ways to add to the power
To keep the lights on for bright hour upon hour
Some harnessed the power through skipping and walking
The town was alive with ideas and with talking!

So just when the lights seemed to have left them forever
They came back again because Betty was clever.
But more than that she showed them how to be merry
By using their brains not just watching the telly
“Well done!” screamed the kids to Betty, “Hooray!”
“You really have managed to light up our day!”

 

In this series we invite members to share their thoughts and lived experience with us – perhaps through an article, advice, sharing their careers, a piece of fiction or a poem. The HLP Diaries are fictional tales of parenting children with high learning potential. If you are a Potential Plus UK member and have an anecdote you would like to share then we’d love to hear from you: email focus@potentialplusuk.org