The Surprise That Crashed
The house was wrapped in a blanket of quiet. Shush! The mother was sleeping, taking her nap. Shush! The baby was sleeping, taking a nap, too. The only sound was a tiny drip, drip, drip from the water dripping into the dishpan full of lunch dishes.
"Do you suppose we could?" whispered Katie to her brother.
"I suppose we could!" whispered Peter right back.
And with a gentle swish, swish, swish, Katie washed all those dishes in the warm, bubbly water until they were shining and clean. Peter stood beside her, drying each one with a fluffy towel until it was gleaming and dry. They worked together like a secret team on a very important mission.
Then, Peter carefully pulled a chair to the cupboard and opened the doors. Katie handed up the clean dishes, one by one, and Peter put them all away in their proper places. But just as he reached for the very last one—the big, flat sandwich plate—it wobbled. It tipped. It slipped right out of his hands, and out of Katie's hands, too.
CRASH! The sound shattered the silence like a bolt of lightning! It woke the baby, who began to cry with a loud wail. It woke the mother from her nap. Katie and Peter froze, their eyes wide with worry as they heard her footsteps coming down the stairs.
The mother came into the kitchen and saw the broken pieces of the plate on the floor. But she didn't say, "Oh dear, my sandwich plate!" And she didn't scold them.
Instead, her eyes traveled from the broken plate to the sink full of sparkling clean, put-away dishes. She looked at her two worried children, and a warm, loving smile spread across her face. "Why, Peter and Katie!" she said. "You did all the lunch dishes for a surprise!"
Then she put the crying baby in the high chair, gave her bigger children a huge hug, and swept up the broken pieces. And then... she took out the cookie plate, and sugar, and eggs and flour, and all the good things she needed for making round, crisp, sugar cookies together.
Moral Values & Lessons
- Good Intentions Matter Most: The mother valued her children's desire to help more than the broken plate.
- Teamwork Makes Work Fun: Working together made the chore feel like an exciting, shared secret.
- Mistakes Happen: It's okay to make mistakes. The important part is how we respond to them with love and understanding.
- Kindness is Rewarded: The children's kind act, even with its accident, led to a happy family activity.
Story Comprehension Questions
Simple Questions
- What were the names of the two children helping in the kitchen?
- Why were they being so quiet?
- What happened to the very last dish?
- Was the mother angry about the broken plate?
- What did the family decide to make at the end of the story?
Critical Thinking Questions
- Why do you think the mother chose to praise her children instead of getting upset?
- What lesson did the children learn about helping and making mistakes?
- How did the feeling in the house change from the beginning (quiet, sleepy) to the end (happy, busy)?
Connecting to Your Life
- Have you ever tried to do a surprise for someone in your family?
- Has a mistake ever happened while you were trying to be helpful? How did it make you feel?
- What is your favorite activity to do with your family?
Fun Interactive Activities
- Draw the Surprise: Draw your favorite scene from the story. It could be Peter and Katie working quietly, or the happy moment they all started making cookies.
- Sound Effects Storytelling: Retell the story with a friend or parent, but make sure to act out all the sounds: "Shush!", "Drip, drip," "Swish," and a big "CRASH!".
- "I Spy" a Kitchen Helper: Stand in your kitchen and play "I Spy" with things you could use to help, like "I spy with my little eye, something we use to dry dishes."