Sharing A Shell – A Parenting Parody

April 25, 2018

 

Here in the Button house we are HUGE fans of Julia Donaldson. Little Button’s bookshelf is packed full of the stuff, and I can’t think of a week that’s gone past where one of these twinkly reads haven’t been read. Sharing A Shell is one of our absolute favourites, and with some inspiration from the brilliant Dawn from Rhyming With Wine, I’m so pleased to be able to share this. My first ever parody. Hooraa!

 

 

Sharing A Shell

 

 

 

Sharing A Shell – A Parenting Parody

 

 

Look! A mum – with a wibberley bum,

Running along by the sea.

 

 

Tap, tap, tap!

“You can’t come in!

You can’t share this towel with me”

“Or me.”  

“Or me.”

“Or me!”

 

 

Look! It’s the judgy mum squad, with their wide-open beaks.

Run for your life, mum – hide!

At last, in a pool, an empty tent!

Quick, mum! Dive inside.

 

 

One mum, safe in her tent,

Under the summer sun,

Roaming all over the rock pool

In her wonderful wibberley bum cover for one.

 

 

Look! Another mum, a bright red mum.

What can this sunburnt mum thing be?

“Go away, bright red mum, whoever you are,

You can’t share this tent with me.”

 

 

“I’m a sunburnt mum, but a decent one.

Please let me share your tent.

Give me some shelter to hide from being mum-judged

And perhaps I can help you as well.”  

 

 

Look! A judgy-mum, with jaws open wide.

“Fresh wibberley-bum mum for dinner – here goes!”

Out shoots a mummy-glare, quick as a flash,

Stinging the cow on the nose. Phew!

 

 

Two mums, sharing a tent,

Under a sky of blue,

Romping all over the rock pool

In their non-judgy parent haven for two.

 

 

Look! A hairy thing, trying to get in,

Wriggling and making a fuss.

“Go away hairy-legged mum, whoever you are –

You can’t share this tent with us.”

 

 

“It’s not my fault that I’m a bit extra hairy.

Please let me in – don’t be mean.

I’m au natural, I can’t deal with it now

I’m so busy trying to keep my kids happy and clean.”

 

 

Three mums, sharing a tent,

Down by the sparkling sea,

Rollicking all round the rock pool

In their wonderful parenting bubble for three.

 

 

But look how they’ve grown! The tent is too small.

“We’re all getting too fat,” they say.

“I’m fed up of the negative comments,” cries wibberley bum mum.

If that’s how you feel I wont’ stay.”

 

 

“Peace!” cries hairy mum, but nobody hears,

The other two mummies split up.

Sunburnt mum finds a nice chocolate ice cream tub.

Wibberley bum mum finds a nice coffee cup.

 

 

Wibberley bum  on the cup, sunburnt’s face in the tub,

Each one pretends to be glad.

Hairy, being the go-betweener,

Knows they are lonely and sad.

 

 

Look! A storm, a terrible storm,

Between the judgey and non judgey mums.

Fragile self-worth, smashed on the rocks,

Oh, what a terrible sight!

 

 

But Look! A big tent, a beautiful tent.

Stuffed full of patience, love and good thoughts.

 

Wibberley bum and sunburnt stare.

Too shy to speak to each other,

Too proud to say “I really DO care!”

 

 

Listen! A voice! And out pokes a head

From the tent washed up on the shore.

“It’s ready. I’ve done all the housework.

Climb on and come in – welcome home!”   

 

 

Three mummies, sharing a tent,

Happy as besties can be,

Rocking parenthood in the best possible way

In their wonderful parent haven for three!

 

 

 

Mum Muddling Through

Lucy At Home
Brilliant blog posts on HonestMum.com
 

58 responses to “Sharing A Shell – A Parenting Parody”

  1. I absolutely love this Annette! I was giggling all threat through. Please can I share your shell xx

  2. MMT says:

    Ahh, a fine tribute to the work of the most excellent Rhyming With Wine! You have quite the talent too Annette! Please can I be Mum number three, in that shell with you and Dawn? I’ll bring cake 😉 This is of course, the perfect analogy to motherhood, a fab poem. You’re pinned in the #CoolMumClub Poetry board in fine company!
    Thanks for linking to #CoolMumClub

  3. Talya says:

    Oh my word I absolutely love this! In fact I would love to do this over on my YouTube if you’ll let me? Will you will you? Thanks so much for linking up to #coolmumclub with this x

  4. Anne says:

    Move over Julia Donaldson, you’ve got competition! Great rhyming story, loved every word x
    #blogcrush

  5. Tooting Mama says:

    Wow I wish I could rhyme, I can’t even cobble together a limerick, this is awesome! I love it! I was giggling from the off!

  6. Pati says:

    Aww this is the best thing i read al week ! Its a beautiful tribute to Julia ( you were better than her )

  7. Aw love this!! We are big fans of Julia D too. She is a legend in our house;)

  8. Alex says:

    This made me laugh so much! I love Julia Donaldson books but this gave me a real giggle! xx

  9. This is so cute, I’ve not heard of Julia Donaldson but I bet my friend who has kids has x

  10. Cliona says:

    Lols, so funny! But also kind of sweet, we definitely need to not be judgy – everyone is just doing their best and I like the sense of cameraderie 🙂

  11. Tash says:

    Oh this was Brilliant. Thanks for the giggle. Loved it. #DreamTeam

  12. Jules would love this I am sure. It is one of my absolute favourites and your version is brilliant! #dreamteam

  13. Love this. Weirdly we read Sharing a Shell last night but I prefer your version! #dreamteam

  14. Love this! We’re big Julia D fans in our house too. We don’t have Sharing a Shell but I’m going to have buy it now. Not sure it will be as good as this version though… #DreamTeam

  15. Oh i love Julia D, she’s a genius! I love how you captured all the different mums together on the beach, mad how we judge and are self conscious when we all struggle with the same issues! #DreamTeam

  16. Kate says:

    Quite the talent going on there. More of the same please! #DreamTeam

  17. This is GREAT! #dreamteam

  18. Chloe Wood says:

    This post really made me chuckle! #DreamTeam

  19. Chloe says:

    As usual you have made me smile as I read this. I wish I could write like this, brilliant as always #dreamteam

  20. What a great poem, made me chuckle! Don’t have that Julia Donaldson book yet (not sure how we have bloomin’ loads of them..) 🙂 #DreamTeam

  21. Aw this is hilarious! You clever stick! Its really creative and funny! Rollicking Wiggerley Bum!!!! Ace!

  22. Tubbs says:

    That’s awesome! 🙂 Made me laugh in the office. And everyone looked at me …

  23. Rachel says:

    We are huge Julia D fans too! This was a brilliant parody. Cleverly written and enjoyed it very much.

  24. Rachel says:

    This is just so lovely and funny too! Beautifully written!

  25. This is amazing! We love Julia Donaldson too and my mummy would be the hairy one! #DreamTeam 😉

  26. Hehehe! I’m still laughing as I write this. What a great parody! 🙂

  27. We love Julia here. That was top notch too

  28. Loved this. Funny and kind of sweet.I don’t know what I would have done without my mum friends. We love Julia D in our house too.My kids are getting a bit big now to read them. Will miss them sooo much. End of an era.

  29. Julie Downes says:

    So clever, I’ll have to look out for the Julia Donaldson book too as my children are big fans. #dreamteam

  30. Lucy At Home says:

    Oh this is so sweet! I love Julia Donaldson – and I love the moral to your take on it.. #blogcrush

  31. I love this! Very funny and well written! Definitely a good read to wind down for the night. #DreamTeam

  32. Helena says:

    Love this alternative. We have a large collection of her works too. #CoolMumClub

  33. I say you have a hidden talent there – love this version and you rhyme so well #dreamteam

  34. This is brilliant!
    Julia Donaldson is a firm favourite here too haha xx

  35. Michelle says:

    That’s a really cute poem about moms! I love the big tent and now they’re all sharing for three:) Thanks for hosting #DreamTeamLinky

  36. This is so clever! Great first parody. I can’t wait to read more! Thanks for having me as a co-host this week on the #dreamteam!

  37. Heather Keet says:

    Who is wiggling?! This shell is getting wiggled! Oh wait, it’s me wiggling. Sorry. #DreamTeam

  38. I too am a massive fan of Julia Donaldson. My question is when will your book be coming out? so funny on the #dreamlinky

  39. This is great! I haven’t read the original (missed out there), but I’m sure this is better and funnier! #dreamteam

  40. Brilliantly funny! I loved this! Spit out a bit of coffee during the read too! <3 <3 #blogcrush xoxo

  41. This is brilliant! We love Julia Donaldson but I think this might be even better… #dreamteam

  42. Crummy Mummy says:

    Very good! We love Julia Donaldson in our house too – such clever stories #DreamTeam

  43. Pati Robins says:

    Annette hun i love that poem !! i think everyone far and wide should read it , we are also big fans of Julia Donaldson here

  44. Rachel says:

    We love Julia Donaldson over here – brilliant Parody, it did make me laugh haha!

  45. Michelle says:

    A very cute poem! And a funny one to read for the beginning of the week:)

  46. Jenni says:

    We love Julia Donaldson, but hadn’t heard of the shell book yet. Have you seen her most recent one, about the bear and the girl and the magic shoes? It’s great.

  47. How creative! I haven’t seen this book I don’t think but we do love Julia Donaldson!

  48. Laura Dove says:

    Oh I love this! I love Julia Donaldson and this parody is so clever! You’re a natural at this!

  49. Wendy says:

    LOVE!!! Can I please come live in the tent too?! This is an awesome parady, as good as queen donaldson herself!xx

  50. Nadia says:

    We adore Julia’s work, too. You are very talented xx

  51. Anosa says:

    I am not familiar with Julia D but I had such a great read of this and a chuckle too

  52. Good laugh that. Well done, you!

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