The boy who cried wolf

There once was a boy named Jude. His favorite things to do were to be chased, to hide from Mommy and Daddy, and to giggle his head off when tickled in just the right spot. Oh, and he also loved to WHINE.

Mommy and Daddy didn't like for Jude to whine. They tried all sorts of things to get him to stop. The only approach that seemed to work was Abuelita Joanna's trick of asking Jude, "Are you whining?" Upon hearing this question, Jude would invariably shake his head vigorously and stop whining—at least for a little bit.

One day, Mommy was working in the kitchen when she heard Jude whining. Although she was used to hearing this sound, she still looked up to make sure that he was all right. He was standing in the corner by the gate, against the wall so that he could see her. This was his favorite spot in which to whine at Mommy for being in the kitchen.

Mommy called out to Jude for him to stop whining and went on working. After a little while, she noticed that he was still whining. Although it wasn't even close to nap time, he was sucking on a pacifier and gripping his night-night. Mommy figured that his teeth must hurt, so she gave him a dose of Motrin and went back to the kitchen to work.

A few minutes later, Daddy passed by the gate and noticed that Jude was still whining! "Jude," said Daddy. "Are you whining?" Daddy was ready to whine at Jude so that Jude could hear how ugly it sounded, when Daddy suddenly noticed that something was wrong with Jude's leg. It was stuffed between the wall and the gate, all the way past the knee, and Jude couldn't get it out! No wonder he was whining!

Lucy investigates the scene

Daddy quickly began to disassemble the gate to free Jude's leg, while Mommy ran over to see what was the matter. Jude began to cry, but only because of the commotion; he wasn't hurt.

After Daddy saved him, he reminded Jude about the story of the boy who cried wolf, and he explained how this situation was the perfect illustration of that story: Because Jude whined all the time, Mommy and Daddy looked right at him and didn't even realize that he was in trouble!

Did little Jude learn his lesson? Only time will tell ...

Sad Jude after his release