All the Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Today is a very special day

Because today is the day

We let the monkeys

Jump on the bed

We have built

The biggest bed

In the whole of the jungle

And so it is safe

For all the monkeys

In the jungle

To jump up and down

On the bed

But of course

There still have to be rules

Because even when all safety precautions

Have been taken

There still need to be do’s and don'ts

For jumping on a bed

We have to come

To an agreement

With the monkeys

About how many jumps

Each of them get

Three seems like nothing at all

And ten seems like far too many

So we settle on eight

Which means every monkey

Gets to jump up and down
Eight times on the bed

Every time we make a rule

We need to run it by the Doctor

But first we need to tell Mama

So we tell Mama

And Mama calls the Doctor

And the Doctor says--

‘Yes, ten jumps seems fine’

--or--

‘Ten jumps is too much!’

But the Doctor says

Even eleven would be okay

So we change the rule to eleven

And the monkeys are so excited

That they come

From all over the jungle

To jump up and down

On the biggest bed

Ever built

When the monkeys show up

They all check with Mama

Because they can’t believe

This day has finally come

And Mama confirms that

Yes, it’s true

The monkeys are allowed

To jump on the bed

BUT!

If a monkey falls off the bed

They cannot get back on

So they have to be very careful

To stay on the bed

Which means jumping a little less high

And with a little less bounce

Which is very hard for monkeys

Especially very excited monkeys

Especially very little and very excited monkeys

Who get very very excited

And cannot always control

The height of their bounce

Sure enough, as soon as the jumping starts

One monkey falls off the bed

And then two

And then four

And then more

And pretty soon

Monkeys are falling all over the place

And Mama’s and Papa’s

Have to run around

Picking up the crying monkeys

Who are crying because

It’s scary to fall off a bed

But they also want to get back on
And do it again

Because none of them are hurt

Which is a very good thing

But now the only sound you can hear

In the jungle

Is the sound of crying monkeys

That’s why we don’t plan

On having another day

Where the monkeys are allowed

To jump on the bed

No matter how big

The bed is

Because no matter how big

You make a bed

Monkeys will find a way

To fall off it

And so it’s easier

To have the monkeys sleep on the bed

And not jump on it

But next year

We are going to build the monkeys

A trampoline

Since trampolines are for jumping

And hopefully not

For falling off

We’ll keep trying

Until we find

The perfect contraption

For jumping and not for falling

Because the monkeys love to jump

And we love to see the monkeys

Doing what they love

So instead of always telling them ‘No’

We try to find ways

To tell them--

‘Go ahead, jump

We’ll try to make it safe

We’ll do our best

And if you fall

We’ll catch you’

One day we’ll build something

So good for jumping on

That the monkeys will jump and jump

More than eleven times

More than eleven hundred times

And it’ll be the happiest day in the jungle

And maybe everywhere else

As well