Scatterbrained Susie

Scatterbrained Susie went outside to play,
On a sunny, but bitterly cold winter's day.
She put on her mittens, of bright scarlet red,
And then slipped her matching toque onto her head.
She buttoned her coat, and pulled on her boots,
And grabbed her toboggan. "This should be a hoot!"
She exclaimed, with euphoria, laughter, and joy,
As she trooped off to join all the young girls and boys.

So she ran to the park where her friends gathered waiting,
For a day of tobogganing, snowmen, and skating.
They had a great time, but when their moms called them in,
Susie looked at her hands, and realized with chagrin,
"Oh no! My poor mitten! It fell off my hand,
And although it's bright red, I did not see it land.
Oh, where could it be? I wish that I knew,
I don't want to tell Mother, oh what should I do?"

But her mother found out, when she saw Susie's hands,
The mitten's location, she tried to demand.
But Susie felt badly, and she started to cry,
She didn't know where, she didn't know why
The mitten had gone, what was done had been done,
But she didn't want to miss out on more winter fun.

So they got in the car and drove to the store,
So her mother could purchase her mittens once more.
But when they got home, Susie's mother decreed,
"A more rigorous mitt-tracking system we need."
So she sewed each of Susie's new mitts on a string,
And again to her coat, so wherever she'd bring
Her coat and her mitts, they'd never get lost
And her hands would be sheltered from frigid Jack Frost.

Susie thought to herself, "I don't like losing things,
So why not sew them ALL to my person with strings?"
So thinking impulsively, not using her head,
She went and she borrowed her mom's needle and thead.
She cut strings of yarn, of many a size
And thought to herself, "No one else is as wise,
As I, for this way, I'll never lose things again,
And I'll save myself infinite hassle and pain."

So she cut and she sewed 'till her fingers were sore,
And her jacket was covered with string-ends galore.
Each bearing an item of value to her,
So she'd never be without them, and she'd always be sure
That she'd never misplace even one of her treasures,
For they'd be affixed to her body forever!
From her mitts, to her crayons, to her favourite doll,
To her flute, and her slingshot, and her bat, glove, and ball.
She put on her coat, headed outside to play,
But the strings on her jacket sure got in the way!

Her jacket was heavy, and moving was hard,
Her ability to balance was also quite marred,
The strings pulled at her coat, and her things weighed her down,
And her teddy bear, Bobo, got dragged on the ground.
She couldn't slide, couldn't skate, couldn't jump, skip, or run,
And she thought to herself, "Gee, this is no fun!"

So she took off her jacket, and set it aside,
And picked up her sled, so downhill she could slide.
At the end of the day, as she undressed for bed,
She looked for her jacket, and realized with dread,
"Oh no! My poor jacket! I left it outside!
My stringing plan backfired on me!"; Susie cried.

So first thing next morning, she told Mother her tale,
And then, as all moms always do, without fail,
She got back in the car, and drove to the store
To buy her young daughter a jacket once more.
When they both got back home, Susie sat down and thought,
And admired the new jacket her mother had bought.
Said Scatterbrained Susie; "At the rate that I'm going,
If I don't want to lose it, I'd better start sewing!"