by Traci Sanders
There once was a boy named Wild Joe who was always, always, on the go.
He jumped out of bed at the crack of dawn, his parents would say, “he’s our wake-up alarm!”
“Hi Mom and Dad!” he would say with a smile, then run ‘round the house, at least half a mile.
Dressed in a minute, a quick bite to eat, Joe did everything fast to get back on his feet.
“Let’s take a nice stroll,” said his parents each day, and Joe would just smile and run all the way.
“Slow down!” they would yell, “this is not a race,” but Wild Joe ran at a really fast pace.
First to the playground, a mile away, it was Wild Joe’s favorite place to play.
He ran to the slide, slid down fifty times, then ran to the monkey bars, and started to climb.
He swung back and forth ‘till he got to the end, then turned right around and did it again!
He jumped on the merry-go-round, went for a ride, then leapt on the swing and swung to the sky.
Then off to the school to go ‘round the track, jogging for miles, at least fifty laps.
And once he was done with his regular run, he would jump, skip, and hop, it was all really fun.
Home was no different, didn’t slow him a bit, because Wild Joe never would sit.
Instead he would climb onto tables and chairs, jump off of pillows, go up and down stairs.
He would do it for hours, and then he would eat, and the food seemed to energize Wild Joe’s feet.
Oh, and watch out, for when Joe was all done, he decided to have a whole lot of fun.
For food was not only for eating each day, food was also a toy to throw every which way.
It sailed over plates, it landed in laps, it fell into glasses, no one could relax.
But the funny thing was, as his parents said “No!” Wild Joe really did have a mighty good throw.
And so, after dinner, his parents would say, “let’s go throw some balls to wind down the day.”
And throw them he did, threw them hundreds of times, ‘till his parents said “Joe, it’s almost bedtime.”
But even with all that playing around, it took more than that to slow Wild Joe down.
So Joe did some cartwheels, somersaults too, handsprings and handstands, it’s what he could do.
But dad’s flips upside down were Joe’s greatest treat, the only rule was though, not after you eat.
Then quick as a cheetah, Joe ran up the stairs, dressed in his PJs, got his teddy bear.
Then Joe would calm down at the end of the day, it was all he could do after hours of play.
He would slowly get slower, then make not a peep, because Wild Joe had fallen asleep.