SleepBetter.org

Where were these stories when we needed them?

If your children still remain stubbornly awake at bedtime, don’t blame us. Our collection of original bedtime stories now numbers somewhere north of 60 — meaning you could read a new tale every night for two months. We’ve done our part on behalf of Mr. Sandman.

For the Sleep Blogger’s money, the best among them is “The Story of Mr. Grump,” which also got the highest rating from visitors to sleepbetter.org. It starts this way:

There is a little fellow
You may not know by name
But he is always near you
And mischief is his aim

We call him Mr. Grump
And sometimes when he is bad
He jumps in your mouth
Yelling “NO” to mom and dad!

The Sleep Blogger knows all about Mr. Grump. In fact, Mr. Grump still makes frequent appearances in the Sleep Blogger’s mouth. He’s tried telling various bosses and supervisors about Mr. Grump, but no one ever believes the Sleep Blogger. They just write bad things about him, often using words like “insubordination” or “not a team player,” and then put those bad things in his personnel file. It makes the Sleep Blogger sad that everyone thinks he says inappropriate things — when all along it’s that evil Mr. Grump.

Ahem. But we digress. The Sleep Blogger, being the father of two children, understands the value of a good bedtime story. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very adept at creating them. Typically, his efforts tended to be along these lines:

Once upon a time there were two children who wondered why their Dad was always grouchy. They would ask why he was unhappy, and the father would say, “‘It’s pretty simple, really. It’s late in the fourth quarter, the game is tied and the home team is driving down the field, but instead of watching the game on TV the father is upstairs … “

That’s usually when Mrs. Blogger showed up with a stern look on her face. (Funny thing — she never bought that Mr. Grump business, either.) Lucky for you, there’s an abundant supply of original bedtime stories now available here. Enjoy.

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