The Fun Fund (Bedtime Story)

Bedtime with Mrs.

Honeybee.

Today,

In the Honeybee neighborhood,

We'll be having a yard sale to raise money for the Honeybee Fun Fund.

Honeybee Fun Fund,

Honeybee Fun Fund.

That's so much fun to say,

But what does it mean,

Mrs.

Honeybee?

The Honeybee Fun Fund is the money we raise to help uplift those in our community,

And we'll have a little fun along the way.

Look at this.

Whoa.

Is that a samurai sword,

Mr.

Honeybee?

It sure is.

I almost forgot we had this.

Who knows what else we'll find.

Once we start going through everything.

The Honeybee Fun Fund is our little way of supporting our people,

And having fun.

So excited to see what else we'll find,

And who we can help.

All of the proceeds from our yard sale will go to the Honeybee Neighborhood Fun Fund,

And whatever we don't sell will go directly to those in need.

Oh,

Look at the clock.

It's almost time for the yard sale to start.

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 the shiny,

New-to-us Honeybee Neighborhood golf cart,

Doing a loop around the street before stopping at our house.

The sun is shining brightly this afternoon,

So you put the visor down to shade your eyes and enjoy the warm breeze blowing against your cheeks.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Feel the coolness of the fresh air coming in through your nose and filling up your lungs.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth.

You drive past our house once for another quick go around the block,

But Harold already caught wind of your presence.

He scratches at the door until I hear him and open the front door for him.

We walk out onto the porch,

Just as you do a quick turn on two wheels,

Then straighten out and come up our driveway.

Well,

Hello!

Look at you,

My little Honeybee,

Putting some miles on the golf cart.

Harold leaps from my arms down to the ground and up into yours.

He wags his tail so much that his whole body wiggles and you cannot possibly pet him enough to calm him down.

Instead,

You jump out of the golf cart for a romp around the front yard.

While you're playing in the grass with Harold,

Laying down and letting him give you slobbery puppy kisses,

Mr.

Honeybee opens up the garage.

Hello,

My little Honeybee.

I was hoping you'd visit today.

We're going to need all the help we can get.

Mr.

Honeybee walks dutifully back into the garage and you,

Then Harold,

Follow him.

There are already three piles started.

Melody Bee flutters out carrying an armful of gardening tools that she cannot see over.

She flutters right into you before she realizes you're here.

Oh,

So sorry,

Little Honeybee.

I didn't see you over my pile of stuff.

Hmm.

Can you grab this for me,

Please?

I need three hands,

But I only have two.

Melody Bee hands you a knee pad and a little shovel.

She says the knee pad can be donated and the little shovel can be sold.

She points to the pile on the garage floor that's for donations and the one for sellable stuff.

We have so much stuff to either give away or sell at the Honeybee Neighborhood Yard Sale.

Some lucky someones are going to get gardening stuff galore.

And tools galore and electronics galore.

Oh,

And cooking appliances galore.

I come out of the house with a sizable pile of stuff,

Just like Melody Bee,

But my stuff is from the kitchen.

I sort it into three piles,

Then go back into the house for more.

As I walk into the house,

Harold is trotting out,

Struggling to carry three squeaky toys in his mouth.

He lays them out on the garage floor and studies them carefully.

Then,

After much deliberation,

He puts two in the donate pile and one in the sell pile.

He runs back in the house to go through his leashes.

You look back to the golf cart where you brought your own pile of stuff to sort.

Think of what you can donate to people in need.

Do you have multiples of things?

Or things that made you so,

So happy long ago,

But you haven't paid attention to in a while?

Those are some of the things you brought with you.

Walking back to the golf cart,

Take another slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Feel the sensation of your heart beating once,

Twice,

Three times full of gratitude for all that you have.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth,

And decide what you can donate to bring some joy to someone who might need it.

Whatever you don't donate,

You can add to the sell pile,

Which will go directly to the Honey Bee Neighborhood Fund Fund.

You look over to the jar in the garage,

And it's about halfway full.

There's so much fun to be had as a community,

And this is one all-around great way to make it happen.

Come on,

Let's go up in the attic.

I know there's tons of stuff up there.

You follow Mr.

Honey Bee carrying a ladder upstairs and into the hall,

Where a little part of the ceiling can be pushed up.

He opens up the ladder,

Then the ceiling,

Before disappearing into the attic.

You step one foot onto the lowest ladder rung,

Then look up into the attic,

Which is still completely dark.

Harold and I join you in the hall,

Having cleaned out the kitchen and the living room of stuff we could part with.

How's it going up there,

Mr.

Honey Bee?

Aha!

Let there be light!

Is it as full as we thought up there?

Fuller?

More full?

Fuller?

More fuller?

I think just full is technically right.

Can something be fuller than full?

Yes!

Our attic!

Good point.

Let's go with fullest,

Then.

Wow,

Wow,

Wow,

Wow!

This is the fullest attic I've ever seen.

I guess I'll just start handing things down to everyone.

I can see from the box labels that a lot of this stuff we definitely don't need.

Melody Bee joins us in the hall,

And one by one,

We take stuff down from the attic and add to our piles.

When we're done with the attic,

We go to the closets,

And when we're done with the closets,

We end in the garage.

Mr.

Honey Bee has already cleared out most of the stuff.

All we need to do is stash away the donation pile and bags so we don't confuse it with the yard sale stuff.

Then we polish up the stuff we're going to sell first thing in the morning.

We'll lay everything out on tables or tarps,

But for now,

We separate it all into loose categories to make it easier for our neighborly customers tomorrow.

The last preparation we need are signs.

We make big signs with yard sale written on them and arrows leading all of our neighbors to our house bright and early.

When the morning comes,

It brings all of our neighbors just like we were hoping.

Seeing all our stuff laid out on the driveway makes us feel accomplished and satisfied.

Not only are we building the Honey Bee Neighborhood Fund Fund with the yard sale proceeds,

But we're also recycling our stuff.

Instead of throwing something we don't use out,

We're passing it along for another someone to use and love just like we did.

Whatever doesn't sell will simply be added to the donation pile.

Then that too will be a tremendous help to those in need.

This simple act does so much good for us,

Our community,

And the world.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Feel gratitude swelling in your heart as the fresh air fills your lungs.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth and stroll around the driveway to chat with all our friendly neighbors.

Melody Bee is over there by the gardening stuff,

Telling stories that belong to each shovel.

A couple of beavers who work at Mr.

Honey Bee's favorite local hardware store are interested in buying the whole lot of them.

The hardware store is always looking for extra supplies to have on hand,

And these will be perfect.

I'm so happy you're going to give the shovels a good home.

They do excellent work.

Thank you,

Friends!

Melody Bee deposits the first sale into the Fun Fun Jar and grabs your hand when she gets back out to the driveway.

Come on,

Let's go see how Mrs.

Honey Bee is doing with the kitchen stuff.

She must have the best stories.

You and Melody Bee join me at a table with pots and pans and whisks and other utensils laid out on it.

I am right in the middle of a story about that one time I added garlic salt instead of regular salt for a cookie recipe.

You should have seen Mr.

Honey Bee's face when he taste tested one of the garlic cookies when I wasn't looking.

Oh my goodness,

Are you telling them the garlic cookie story?

I promise that the mixer doesn't taste like garlic.

It'll be perfect for the cookie batter,

And I'm always available for a taste test to make sure of it.

Mr.

Honey Bee,

You're well on your way to another garlic cookie,

Aren't you?

So be it.

Having the first taste test is worth it.

I'll take one for the team.

An avid baker who also accidentally used garlic salt instead of regular salt in a brownie recipe decided to buy the whisk.

It will suit her collection perfectly.

Throughout the day,

More and more neighbors gather in our driveway.

We talk to each one of them,

Learning their names and sharing stories.

This is a great way to get to know everyone around us.

Sometimes we get so preoccupied with our busy days that we forget to look up and say hi.

But today at the yard sale,

We're getting a chance to talk at length with everyone who visits us.

They are all so excited to meet you.

They've heard so many good things about you from the other neighbors.

They know what a kind,

Loving,

And brave person you are,

And they're excited to get to meet you for themselves.

When you're waiting behind a table of neatly folded clothes and assorted stuffed animals,

You hear the tiniest voice coming from the other side of the table.

You walk around to see a little boy who sweetly walked up to a stuffed teddy bear that caught his eye.

He's too little to reach it,

So you reach over and hand it to him,

Then kneel down with him as he plays with it.

He loves this teddy bear so much and squeezes it tight for big bear hugs.

His dad walks up behind him and looks at the price we put on the tag for the stuffed animal.

When he sees it,

He tries to grab the teddy bear from his son's hands,

Telling him that they cannot afford this bear,

That he can get another one another day.

The little boy's smile turns upside down and his eyes fill with tears as he hands the bear back.

The father and son turn around to walk away.

You know how important it is to help people in need and to pass along any joy that you can,

And you know that is the real reason we're here doing this yard sale at all.

Knowing that,

You pick up the bear and call the little boy back.

With one hand,

You rip off the price tag and hand the teddy bear to the boy.

His face lights up almost as much as his dad's.

You just made their day,

My little honeybee.

And more than that,

You did the right thing,

Which you can always feel good about.

I am so,

So proud of you.

As the yard sale winds down,

We add whatever didn't sell to the donation pile and drive it over to our neighborhood charity.

When we get back,

We can feel satisfied about what we did here today.

We did so much good for the world and for the honeybee neighborhood,

Which is our home.

Now we have the fun work of enjoying a freshly cleaned out house and deciding what on earth or beyond we're going to do with the honeybee neighborhood fun funds.

Always remember,

Mrs.

Honeybee believes in you.

You are special and you are loved.

I can't wait to see you again.