Speaker 1: Kids. If you've never had a chance to babysit an egg,
you might be missing out. No arguing, no talking back,
and eggs don't try to give themselves terrible haircuts the
moment you turn your back. It's really easy unless you
crack one. Today's story is called don't break the egg.
Let's get into it. Helloll, story time truly not a
glory time. I have a standing. You'll be fine. Follow
the whole storyline. Hello, el, story time made you have
at least one time. Well time, This is the story
of a fuzzy pickle. Well, not a fuzzy pickle, the
fuzzy pickle as in the name of an egg. Confused, Well,
me too, But don't worry. We'll sort this whole thing
out together. It all began one day when AJ's mother
came up to him and asked, AJ, how would you
feel about looking after my friend Anna's little boy or
Ralphie this weekend. Ladies are having a little get together
and we need someone to look after Ralphie. AJ had
never been asked to take care of another kid before. Uh, Mom,
are you asking me to be Ralphie's dad? This was
not at all what she was asking. No, AJ, We're
just asking if you'll be his caregiver for a few hours.
AJ still wasn't following his babysitter. AJ, we're asking if
your babysit Ralphie this weekend so a few of us
moms can go out and forget about being moms for
a few minutes. So I only have to watch him
for a few minutes. No, you're taking all of my
words too literally. Look at me, Aj, Look at me.
Babysitting Saturday, one o'clock to three o'clock in the afternoon.
Fifty dollars pay. AJ didn't like the sound of that
last part. I have to pay you, guys, fifty dollars
to be some kid's dad for a few hours. Oh Man.
Eventually this all became crystal clear. But even after after
agreeing to watch Ralphie, AJ found out Ralphie's mother, Anna
wanted to meet him and ask him a few questions.
He had no problem with that. He actually had a
few questions of his own. Ralphie's mother, Anna showed up
at their house just minutes after getting off the phone
with AJ's mother. Anna was a tall, slender woman with
her hair tied back in a bun. She sounded very
friendly as she introduced herself to AJ, but then suddenly
she went all bad cop and started aggressively asking Aj
way more than just a few questions. How many years
of babysitting experience do you have? In which babysitting school
did you attend on a scale of one to ten?
How much can I trust you to look after my son?
Please outline the exact steps you followed to deal with
an emergency. What is the healthiest snack you're qualified to prepare?
And what is the macronutrient breakdown? How many little kid
jokes do you know? And are any of them actually funny?
If my son asks you if you can play with
knives or fire, what will you say? The questions kept
coming and finally ended with Anna asking Aj if he
had ever been to jail. Aj answered each question the
best he could, but he was exhausted by the end
of it. And AJ, did you say you had some
questions for me as well? Aj had forgotten all but
two of the questions he had wanted to ask. Yeah,
so if I do this thing, will that mean your
kid Ralphie has to buy me a present? On Father's Day.
AJ's mother had to cut in and remind him that
looking after someone for an afternoon does not make you
a dead This was good because AJ's second question was
going to be whether or not this meant Ralphie's mom
was now going to be his wife. He wasn't really
in the mood to have a wife just yet. Well, Aj,
Ralphie's mom began, I'm a little worried that you say
you haven't done any babysitting before. I think i'd feel
a little better about this if perhaps you passed a
little test first. AJ started to squirm. No one disliked
tests more than Aj. He'd spent years insisting he was
allergic to paper and pencils, but none of his teachers
had ever believed him. Ralphie's mom pulled out an egg.
If you can take care of this egg for one week,
then I will allow you to watch my son, Ralphie.
Apparently that was the test. Ma'am, are you asking me
to babysit an egg? Isn't that quite a bit different
than looking after a kid? Like who could mess up
looking after an egg? Aj studied the egg, wondering if
there was anything special about it. It just looked like
every other egg he'd ever seen. This might not be
as easy as you think. Anna told him. You can't
just leave it in the egg curtain all week. You
have to do stuff with it. But here's where it
gets tricky. The egg has to look exactly the same
at the end of the week as it does right now.
That means no cracks, no dirt, and no terrible haircuts.
You also have to keep it with you at all times.
I repeat at all times. Just like looking after a child,
you must never take your eyes off of it. And
hopefully it goes without saying that you shouldn't let a
child get cracked either. AJ wondered if Ralphie had given
himself a terrible haircut the last time he had had
a babysitter. All right, well, I think I should be
able to handle looking after an egg, AJ decided out loud.
But just one more thing. What happens if I eat
the egg? Scrambled eggs are my favorite thing to have
for breakfast. Ralfie's mother looked appalled. Well, no, don't do that.
Don't eat the egg. You can't eat the egg you're
supposed to be babysitting. AJ was happy that all of
the other eggs he wasn't babysitting were probably still fair game.
Ralfie's mother and I handed him the egg and bid
them both farewell. Remember keep the egg with you at
all times. She first said goodbye to AJ, and then
she said a special goodbye to the egg. Only she
didn't just say goodbye egg. She had a name for it.
All right, Fuzzy Pickles. I want you to be on
your best behavior for AJ. Do you hear me? AJ
was no scientist, but he was nearly thirty percent sure
that egg can not hurt any of that ma'am? Did
you just call the egg Fuzzy Pickles? Ralphie's mom answered,
and while getting into her car, everyone deserves a name, AJ,
Everyone now, please be good to my egg. As the
car drove away, AJ took another look at the egg.
It still looked like every other egg he'd ever seen.
All right, Fuzzy Pickles, looks like it's just you and
me now, So listen, I'm gonna need you to stay
out of trouble, okay, and don't even think about calling
me Dad unless you plan on buying me a present
for Father's Day. Got it? AJ went inside and placed
Fuzzy Pickles on the kitchen counter. He then told his
mother he was heading over to the park. Aren't you
forgetting something? She asked her son as he laced up
his shoes. She was holding out the egg. AJ did
not want to bring an egg to the park with him.
The way he played it would get broken, for sure.
His mother reminded him that that was the point of
the exercise. He had to prove that he could look
after the egg without letting it get broken. Okay, fine,
come on, fuzzy pickles. AJ shoved the egg into one
of his pockets, but his mother looked like he had
just tried drop kicking the egg across the room. AJ,
would you if your child in a pocket like that?
I don't think so. That egg will get all banged
up in there. Aj had been looking after the egg
for less than five minutes, and he was already losing
patience with it. He tried walking out the door holding
the egg in his hand, but his mother stopped him
once again. Don't tell me you're just gotta hold the
egg in your hand the whole time. Have you seen
how squeezy your little hands get? It was true. Aj
once raised inside to show his mother a caterpillar, only
to open his hand and discover the caterpillar had been smushed.
Way here, said AJ's mother, before disappearing into the basement.
A minute later, she returned pushing a stroller a stroller,
said Aj, you want me to push the egg to
the park in a stroller. His mother started showing him
how the safety straps worked. Apparently she was expecting him
to push the egg to the park and a stroller.
After Fuzzy Pickles was all strapped in, AJ pulled down
the sun visor and placed a small blanket over the egg.
It wasn't so much about keeping Fuzzy Pickles from getting
much son as it was about keeping people from seeing
that Aj was pushing around an egg. Aj only encountered
one other person on the way to the park, a
friendly lady who couldn't resist asking about the little one
in the stroller. Mind if I have a quick peek? Sorry, ma'am,
he's asleep. I'm sure you know how it is when
the little ones get woken up too soon. The woman
remembered those days well, so there was no way she
was about to wake a sleeping baby. But just as
she turned to leave Fuzzy Pickles, his blanket slipped down.
Oh there's the little ooh um little egg Ooh okay, well,
I'll just be going on my way now. Very cute egg,
she called as she power walked away. His name is
Fuzzy Pickles, AJ called after her. The woman started walking
even faster. At the park, AJ saw a bunch of
his friends playing. He parked the stroller next to a
bench and ran over to join them. Hey, what was
that you were pushing? Are you babysitting today? Aj tried
to brush it off. Ah, it's nothing, guys, So what
game are we playing? He wanted everyone to just let
it go. But you can't show up at a park
pushing a stroller and expect your friends not to make
a big deal out of it. They all ran over
to see who was inside, and unlike the lady AJ
had met earlier, none of them cared one bit about
waking a sleeping baby. They flipped back the sun visor
and pulled away the blanket. AJ, were you aware of
the kid you're looking after has turned into an egg?
Are his parents going to get you in trouble? For that?
Aj had to explain how the whole situation of the
challenge had come about. Wow, so you basically have to
be this egg's daddy all week. AJ was snarling after
hearing that let's just all forget about the egg and
get back to playing. Okay, some of AJ's friends had
done a little bit of babysitting themselves. Aj, it doesn't
work like that, dude. You need to keep your eyes
on the kid or egg that your babysitting at all times.
At all times. Normally, when Aj played at the park,
he ran, jumped, slid, and dove. This time, he had
to move carefully, making sure a fuzzy pickles stayed safe
in his hands. Guys, I think I might just head
home a little early today. Not like I'm doing very
well in this game anyways. I think I've been the
first one to get out every single time. He found
it a bit odd that people kept asking if he
had to get fuzzy pickles home for a nap. Guys,
it's just an egg. Okay, Well, let's not forget that.
Aj forgot to cover fuzzy pickles. On the walk home,
a group of teenagers immediately noticed nice egg egg daddy.
When he got home, he decided maybe a nap wasn't
such a bad idea that might give him a little
break from watching the egg. He tossed the egg on
his bed and then went to watch TV. While watching
his show, he heard the phone ring. It was his
mother's friend Anna, Ralphie's mother high, just checking to see
how things are going. AJ hadn't expected Ralphie's mother to
be checking in. How's Fuzzy Pickles doing? Is he with
you right now? AJ told her about the nap. Oh, well,
that's nice. Just make sure you're close enough that you
can still hear him if he wakes up, and do
not let him sleep too long. AJ assured her he would,
but after hanging up the phone, he realized how ridiculous
that was. Eggs don't sleep, and even if they did,
they certainly don't wake up crying. As the day came
to a close, AJ realized he and Fuzzy Pickles had
made it through their first day together without a single crack.
But if he had thought day one had been hard,
he hadn't seen anything yet. When his family went out
for breakfast the next morning, he had even more explaining
to do. The waiter spotted the egg while he was
taking everyone's order, and for you, would you like me
to have the chef scramble that egg for you, Aj
shot the waiter our real nasty look. Don't even think
about putting your hands on fuzzy Pickles. The waiter never
came back to their table. After that, sleeping became a
challenge too. The first night, Aj simply left Fuzzy Pickles
on his night table, but by the second night he
started worrying what if the egg rolled off the table,
what if it got too cold. Fuzzy Pickles looked much
more comfortable sleeping on the bed next to him, but
this also made it hard for Aj to sleep, as
now he was worried about waking up covered an egg yolk.
Ralphie's mother, Anna checked in at least once every day
to make sure Aj had his eyes on the egg
at all times. Tell me, Aj, if the egg is
with you right now, what is he wearing? Aj looked
at Fuzzy Pickles. Um, he's wearing a white shell. Hmm,
that does seem like something he would wear. Well done, Aj,
I'm glad you're taking your responsibility seriously. And good news,
you've almost made it through the week. To Aj, he
felt like he'd been doing this for close to a month.
He noticed himself getting nippy with people who weren't aware
of how loud they were talking. Sh we've got an
egg trying to sleep over here. He caught himself yelling
at fast drivers or skateboarders who would narrowly brush past, Hey,
slow down and watch where you're going. Somebody's egg is
gonna get cracked, you know. And he complained that none
of the shops or restaurants in town had restrooms for eggs. Hey,
come on, how do you all expect an egg to
go to the bathroom around here? And all the while
AJ kept getting taunted by teenagers. Funny looking, baby, you've
got there. You're cracking us up with that thing. But
keep up the excellent work. Egg Daddy. AJ was exhausted.
He hadn't had a good night's sleep in almost a week.
Looking after fuzzy Pickles demanded far more attention than he'd
ever imagined. When he'd heard the phone start to ring,
he thought for sure it was going to be Ralphie's
mother Anna checking in once again, but this time it
was one of his friends. Aj, A bunch of us
are heading over to the trampoline park to play. You've
got to I'm with us. You've got it. Aj agreed
in a heartbeat, Oh yeah, count me in. I love
that place. But after he got off the phone, he
remembered Fuzzy Pickles. Oh no, I can't bring you to
a trampoline park. Your show will get cracked to a
million pieces for sure. Fuzzy Pickles didn't say anything. I mean,
no one would really notice if I just left you
here for the afternoon, right, I could put the TV
on for you and leave you a fun little snack. Still,
Fuzzy Pickles said nothing. You're probably old enough to stay
home by yourself, right, like you've got to be what
almost twelve years old in people years? Aj placed the
egg gently on the sofa in front of the TV
and then quietly slipped out the door. At the trampoline park.
None of his friends asked about Fuzzy Pickles. They had
all forgotten about that, but Aj hadn't forgotten. Even though
the trampoline park was one of his most favorite places
in the world. AJ couldn't stop thinking and worrying about
his egg. What if an called while he was away
from the egg? What if an egg napper snuck into
the house and took the egg? Or were if the
egg got a really bad tummy ache and had no
one there to be with him. Once again, AJ left
his friends early to return home. When he got back,
the TV was still on and there sat Fuzzy Pickles
right where he had left him. Only one person had noticed,
but it was just AJ's dad, the one person who
knew nothing about the egg challenge. So get this, Aj,
I was about to sit down and watch TV, and
I almost sat right on top of an egg. I
was like, Ah, where did you come from? Egg? Could
you imagine the mess that would have left all over
my butt? AJ couldn't believe he hadn't thought to put
Fuzzy Pickles in a safety cage. For the rest of
the night, AJ didn't take his eyes off the egg
for a minute. His eyes even started the sting from
not doing enough blinking. In the morning, Ralfie's mom, Anna
came by the collect Fuzzy Pickles. Well done, Aj, This
little guy looks even better than when I had dropped
him off with you. You must do a real good
bubble bath. It was true, Fuzzy pickles shell had a
really nice sheen to it. Anna reached out to take
the egg back, but Aj hadn't even had a chance
to say goodbye. As he abruptly pulled his arm back,
the worst possible thing happened. Fuzzy Pickles flew out of
his hand and went sailing through the air. AJ watched
it happen as if seeing it in slow motion. Fozzy Pickles.
It was the first time AJ had heard the egg
make a sound crack. Seeing the yolk spill out under
the floor was a reminder that Fuzzy Pickles really had
just been an egg all along. Oh don't worry, AJ said, Anna.
We won't count that as far as I'm concerned. You
already proved yourself an excellent babysitter. No one ever would
have known, but AJ told her anyway, I went to
the trampoline park yesterday and left Fuzzy Pickles at home,
and he almost got smushed by my dad's butt. I'm
really sorry. Anna didn't seem to care. It's not like
I could have gone a whole week dragging an egg
around with me everywhere. But I broke one of the rules.
You did, and then you told me about it. Do
you know how many kids would have kept that to themselves.
Your honesty means far more to me than a perfect egg.
That's exactly what I'm looking for in a babysitter, she smiled,
And someone who won't let my son give himself a
terrible haircut. AJ smiled back, Well, that part I can guarantee,
And besides, I think it'll be a lot more fun
looking after someone who actually talks to me. The next day,
Ralphie got dropped off at AJ's house for the afternoon.
He looked like a sweet little boy, but the first
thing out of his mouth was listen, mister, you may
be the boss of me today, but I've already decided
everything we're gonna do today. First we're gonna play with
sharp knives. Then we're gonna play with fire, and then
after that, I'm gonna give myself my very own haircut. Also,
is it cool if I call you Dad? It wasn't
the easiest day of babysitting. AJ earned every cent of
that fifty dollars, especially for all the time he had
to spend hiding knives. Before going to bed that night,
he stopped in the kitchen to get something from the fridge.
It wasn't a bedtime snack or a glass of milk.
AJ took out an egg and brought it up to
his room, placing the egg next to his pillow. He
began telling the egg all about this wild boy named
Ralfie who had given himself a terrible haircut. The moment
AJ had turned his back, the egg just sat there
nicely without ever saying a word. The end. That's the story,
and here is your question of the week. How long
do you think you could last dragging an egg along
with you everywhere you go? Thanks to AJ and shout
out to the following listeners. Eduardo and Elena from Puerto Rico,
Jake and Luca from Charleston, South Carolina, Felicity and Max
from North Carolina, Lulu Jackson from Minnesota, Leo and Logan
from Hollywood south of Birmingham in the UK, Malcolm Cat
and Lollipop the Bernadoodle from Upper Fells Point, Maryland, KYANJ
from Gurugram, India, CJ from Melbourne, Australia, and Cairo and
Emerson from Lower Hut, New Zealand. I'll have more for
you next time, but until then, thanks for listening and
I'll catch you on the next one.