The Quietest Night Ever

This past Saturday, my three children asked if they could have a sleepover party at their grandparents house. After a busy and exhausting week, I thought this might be just what I needed; a quiet Saturday night. After dropping off the children, my husband and I ran errands, did some shopping, and even had a relaxing dinner at a restaurant. We could not believe how much we accomplished in a few short hours, with no children running around, hiding behind things, touching things, or complaining that they were bored with shopping and wanted to go home. What a treat! We soon returned home, with big expectations of watching a program on television - uninterrupted, and sleeping through the night with no one waking us to say they had a bad dream, or needed to use the bathroom. As we sat there in front of the TV, the grim reality soon set in: the house was TOO quiet! Where were the little footsteps running through the hall, the last minute requests for hugs and kisses, and the traditional night time exchanges: "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite," and "I love you mommy!" Before going to bed, I peeked into each bedroom, as I always do, only to be reminded of how empty the house was without these three special little people. On Sunday Alex, Sami and Aidan burst into the house in a whirlwind of shouts, giggles, and screams...my house is happily noisy again!

Vocabulary:

sleepover: to sleep at someone else's home

errand: a chore or task that one must do

grim: sad or unpleasant

traditional: something that is always done in the same way

whirlwind: a rushed, loud, or confusing situation

Complete each sentence with the appropriate vocabulary word:

1. The movie started out quite _______ , but had a very happy ending.

2. Everyone brought a sleeping bag and pillow to the ___________ party.

3. On the first day of school the children came off the bus in a _________ of excitement.

4. Our family has a ___________ way of decorating the house for the holidays each year.

5. The only _________ I have to do tomorrow is to go to the post office to buy stamps.

Grammar Point

Prepositions are words that tell us about relationships between nouns and other words in our sentences. For example, they may tell us if something is over or under something else, if it came before or after something, or if it is with or without something. Reread the passage above, and see how many prepositions you can find, and what parts of your sentences they are expressing relationships between.