Bedtime with Mrs.
Honeybee Today,
In the Honeybee neighborhood,
We will be visited by a very special friend from the North Pole.
Is it Santa?
No,
Not him.
Not Santa?
Hmm,
An elf?
Not him either.
I'll give you a hint.
He has antlers,
Four hooves,
A bright red nose,
And a big heart.
Harold when he's dressed up for Christmas?
It's Rudolph!
Our favorite red-nosed reindeer.
Oh,
That guy from the song!
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.
Is that the only part of the song you know,
Melodybee?
Yeah.
All you have to do is close your eyes,
Get cozy,
And listen to the sound of my voice.
Mrs.
Honeybee will be your guide.
Let's begin.
You are here in our backyard garden,
Star gazing on a chilly winter night.
Melodybee buzzes in from the kitchen with another mug of hot cocoa that you eagerly accept.
Your hands are snug and warm inside your mittens,
And you are wrapped in a big fluffy coat.
But the sweet smelling steam from the top of the mug is welcome under your chin.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the coolness of the winter air coming in through your nose as you sip your cocoa.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And watch the warmth of your breath form a little cloud that quickly disappears.
Melodybee gets your attention pointing up into the sky.
She has you both out here late into the evening on the lookout for a shooting star.
Tonight's the night,
Little Honeybee.
I know we're going to see one.
We just have to keep our eyes peeled.
Melodybee cranes her neck up to the sky,
Slowly scanning it from left to right.
You look down for a quick moment to see that the whipped cream on your hot cocoa has melted into a funny shape,
When suddenly you hear Melodybee gasp.
Look!
With a hot chocolate mustache,
You look up to the sky to see not one,
But a sky full of shooting stars.
It's mesmerizing to witness.
Melodybee calls Mr.
Honeybee and I out to join you.
We get out there just in time to see it too.
It lasts for a brief moment before quieting back down.
Melodybee,
Mr.
Honeybee and I chat about how delicious a dash of cinnamon makes hot cocoa while you continue to study the sky.
The stationary stars twinkle like diamonds,
White and gleaming.
But right in the center of them,
You see something different.
A bright red star that blinks quicker than the others.
You point up and exclaim to get Melodybee's attention,
But she assumes it's just Mars shining extra bright.
Unconvinced,
You keep watching the sky and sipping your hot cocoa.
The red blinking star seems to be moving,
Getting closer and closer.
You're sure it's something else and get Melodybee's attention once again.
Now she sees what you're talking about.
Oh goodness,
You're right,
Little honeybee.
That's definitely not a star.
It looks like a flying sky tomato.
What looks like a flying sky tomato?
That,
That red looking thing right there.
See it?
It looks like it's coming towards us.
Do flying tomatoes blink like that?
No,
I haven't known them to shine so bright.
I don't think that's a shooting star or a flying sky tomato.
Unless shooting stars have sleighs attached to them.
That's not a flying tomato or a shooting star.
That's Rudolph.
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer emerges from the deep blue nighttime sky,
Heading straight for us.
When he gets close enough for us to see him and his sleigh clearly,
We can see that something has gone terribly wrong.
Rudolph wobbles,
Free falls,
And then struggles against the weight of the sleigh to stabilize.
He does that a few times,
But cannot quite get himself steady.
He flies the sleigh in circles to slow himself down slightly,
But that doesn't stop him.
Melanie B.
Buzzes up toward him,
Hoping against hope that she could catch him and break his inevitable fall.
Rudolph falls from the sky right past her and crashes on our rooftop,
Sleigh and all.
You follow behind Mr.
Honey Bee,
Who leads the way up to the roof.
We have to make sure our dear friend Rudolph is okay.
There's a ladder that's always tucked away.
Mr.
Honey Bee releases it and it unfolds down to the ground for us to climb up.
Melody B.
Is already up with Rudolph on the roof.
We can hear her consoling him.
Rudolph was on one of his test flights that he does before Christmas to prepare for the big night.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose as you climb the ladder.
Feel the coolness of the nighttime air coming in through your nose and expanding out your chest.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and focus on each movement up the ladder.
Right hand,
Right foot,
Left hand,
Left foot.
When you get to the top of the ladder and step foot on the tile roof,
You see a very dizzy Rudolph with stars in his eyes from the fall.
He looks up to you with as big a smile as he can muster as you kneel down to hold his hoof in your hand.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a bit beat up,
But nothing a little extra love and snuggles can't fix.
Mr.
Honeybee inspects the sleigh while we give Rudolph a thorough once over to make sure he's okay.
Just cosmetic damage to the sleigh,
But this blinker nose of yours?
We need to get this checked out.
Your antlers seem to have gotten bent out of shape too.
Look,
Mr.
Honeybee,
He won't be able to pick up any kind of signal,
Will he?
No,
I doubt it.
Those will need to be repaired as well.
Does your hoof hurt,
Rudolph?
It seems kind of tender.
We can make you a special reindeer cast.
You unhook Rudolph from his sleigh and together we lead him down from the roof so he can relax comfortably inside where it's warm.
When we get him in the family room,
Harold scurries off to Mr.
Honeybee's office where his biggest,
Fluffiest bed sits at the foot of Mr.
Honeybee's desk.
This bed is much too big for tiny Harold,
Which is why he loves it so much.
It'll be the perfect size for Rudolph.
Harold comes back into the family room,
Dragging the gigantic bed in his teeth and growling with frustration when it doesn't move as quickly as he wants it to.
You dash over to help him and deliver the warm,
Cozy bed to Rudolph just as the rest of us get him inside.
He plops down with a sigh of relief,
Thankful to have such good friends by his side in his moment of need.
Harold proudly stands two paws at the edge of the bed,
Sniffing our reindeer friend.
Rudolph's eyes light up when he sees Harold,
Who looks like a walking pile of snow to him.
Rudolph loves snow,
Sleeps in it every night at the North Pole.
He uses his snout to nudge Harold into a little,
Distracting game while we tend to Rudolph's injuries.
Mr.
Honeybee goes out to his garage and comes back with a voltage tester,
A device he uses to check light bulbs around the house.
Especially on strands of Christmas lights.
He gently holds it up to Rudolph's nose and it beeps erratically.
Beeping Yep,
The voltage is off in his blinker,
But I know just the fix.
Mr.
Honeybee rushes back to his garage,
Confident he will be able to fix Rudolph's blinking nose.
While Harold is continuing to distract him with nuzzling reindeer games,
We inspect his antlers.
There are a few spots that are bent slightly out of shape,
Which are easily molded back into proper shape.
Neither of us expect it to be that easy,
But his antlers are so aerodynamic because they are very pliable.
We're able to shape them like we do those fuzzy little pipe cleaners when we're doing arts and crafts.
That gives you an idea.
You run up to my writing room where we keep our craft supplies and get several pipe cleaners and some tinsel to reinforce Rudolph's antlers where they were weakened.
While you're doing that,
I make him some reindeer food so he can have a full belly and Melody Bee gathers supplies to make a cast for his one hoof that is very tender.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel confidence in your ability to help Rudolph swell in your chest with your breath.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
As you return downstairs to the family room to behold the sweetest sight you've ever seen.
We all meet back in the family room at the same time to behold Harold fast asleep snuggled under Rudolph's chin.
They are both sleeping so very soundly comfortably and warm in the overstuffed dog bed.
While they're asleep,
Mr.
Honey Bee silences the voltage tester and gets to work recharging Rudolph's nose blinker without disturbing them.
Melody Bee slowly lifts his hoof and looks up to see if he noticed.
Rudolph and Harold readjust in their sleep,
But remain undisturbed.
She softly wraps his paw in a little splint for some extra support.
You and I gently reinforce his antlers with tinsel so he can pick up proper signals.
With teamwork,
We've patched up our friend in no time.
We let them sleep for a little longer so Rudolph can fully recharge.
When the oven dings,
The sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies fills our noses and gently wakes the sleeping best buds up.
They yawn awake,
Following their curious snouts up and over to the oven door.
Rudolph stands up as good as new.
He limps on his sore hoof for a few steps,
But the smell of snickerdoodle cookies distracts him from the soreness.
After a few steps,
He begins to gallop around the kitchen,
Unaware that his antlers are swiping magnets from the fridge and taking dish towels up with them.
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer is ready to return to his test plate.
He takes a few nibbles of the snickerdoodles and is ready to fly.
We make our way back up to the roof,
Hook him back up to his sleigh,
And stand back,
Waiting to witness Rudolph take off into the nighttime sky.
He readies himself with a big breath in through his steadily blinking nose and out through his mouth.
Rudolph takes a few little steps back,
Revving up to dash into the night.
Before he does,
Though,
He whimpers and looks back at us,
Specifically at his new bestest friend,
Harold.
Harold senses that his new friend needs nuzzles,
So he leads us over with a nod and we all follow suit.
We give Rudolph as many snout kisses and hugs and pets as he can handle,
But he still refuses to budge.
With a wink,
Rudolph dips his head down,
Antlers and all,
And scoops Harold up to set him down in the sleigh.
Rudolph wants us to join him on his test flight.
We happily oblige and hop into the sleigh.
It shines just as bright as Rudolph's nose against the backdrop of twinkling stars.
With us in the sleigh,
He is fully confident to take to the skies.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Find the heart center of your calm focus with Rudolph.
Then,
Slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and hold on tight as we fly weightlessly into the night.
We look over the side of the sleigh to see the roof of our house getting smaller and smaller before it finally disappears into a distant,
Blurry shape on the ground.
Rudolph picks up signals from the North Pole and the brightest star and takes us on a sleigh ride adventure,
Looping and swirling through the nighttime sky.
At its fullest,
The moon lights up the twinkling stars.
Rudolph approaches it full steam ahead.
We think to ourselves that the moon is getting awfully close.
But before we can worry about another sleigh crash,
Rudolph diverts and flips us upside down in the sleigh,
Doing a backflip over the moon.
Our arms fly up like we're on a roller coaster as we whoosh by sparkling constellations.
Rudolph hones his flight times and sharpens his turn radius with his newly reinforced antlers.
Thanks to Mr.
Honeybee's electrical know-how,
Rudolph's blinker lights the way as we circle the entire globe in a zigzag pattern.
The crisp,
Wintry air brushes against our cheeks and the tips of our noses are a little chilly,
But our hearts are warm and full.
Always remember,
Mrs.
Honeybee believes in you.
You are special and you are loved.
I can't wait to see you again.
