1.Popping next door

 

I was in the kitchen one day

And Dad asked me to pop next door

And ask if they had any spare sugar

 

Not a big task I hear you say

Sounds pretty easy

Just to pop next door and ask

 

But the next door to us, that we don’t own

Is roughly five miles away

And that’s if I cut across the fields

 

I was tempted, to put it to Dad

That it would be much easier

If he popped next door in our four-by-four

 

But, fearing a clip round the ear

Off I set, gamely accepting the challenge

Just popping next door

 

And, some hours later, red-faced and panting,

I arrived back in the kitchen

Clutching next door’s spare sugar in a Tupperware

 

But I had that awful feeling

That Dad’s probably forgotten why he wanted it

Or, he’ll have popped down the shops to get some.

2.Questions

 

“Mum, what’s a laboratory?”

“Well son, it’s a place where

Men in white coats

With hair all over the place

Make exciting things

That fizz and bang and sometimes smell rotten”

“Dad, how can the moon be all those different shapes?”

“Because it’s clever and it can.”

“Mum, what’s a Policeman?”

“Well son, he’s very smart and helpful

Not usually short or fat

Because he may have to chase after bad people

Who steal things and shoot people.

He’s usually tall, so he can look down at you

And he has a really cool belt

With all sorts of exciting things he can use

To stop the bad people running away”

“Dad, what’s a fireman?”

“He’s a bloke who puts out fires.”

“Mum, what’s a Nurse?”

“Well son, Nurses are people

Who help people like you and me when they’re sick

Or have fallen over and broken their bones.

They use all sorts of amazing machines

With flashing lights and bits that go ‘beep’.

They bring you lots of cups of tea

Very early in the morning

And they even make your bed.”

“Dad, why do footballers take off their shirts and wave them over their head

When they’ve only just put them on?  Mum would kill me if I did that.”

“Because they’re stupid”

“Mum, why doesn’t Dad ever say very much?”

 

“Well, sorry, you’ve got me there my son.

It’s probably because he’s stupid,

But you’d better ask him.”