Free A Big Year for Lily by Suzanne Woods Fisher, Mary Ann Kinsinger

wasn’t a very big good thing. It was a little good thing. With Joseph and Dannie gone, it took Mama and Lily half the normal time to finish their regular cleaning. Usually, those brothers ran in and out of the house, interrupting Mama, annoying Lily, tracking dirt on the sparkling clean floors. Baby Paul, still a baby and not a full-fledged boy yet, happily played with his toy animals and wooden blocks all morning. Mama and Lily were done in no time at all.
    Mama finished mopping the floor. She rested her chin on top of the mop pole. “Lily, today would be a fine day to wax the kitchen floor. With Papa and the boys gone, we don’t have to worry about them tracking in dirt on the floor before the wax has time to dry.”
    She seemed pleased. Lily was not pleased. She had hoped they might bake cookies. Or make candy.
    â€œPaul is still playing happily,” Mama said, ignoring Lily’s lack of enthusiasm. “If we hurry, he should be fine until we get done.”
    Mama plucked the big jug of wax off the shelf in the broom closet and handed several small rags to Lily. She showed Lily how to pour a stream of wax on the floor and carefully spread it evenly over every inch.
    In a way, it was a little bit like icing a cupcake. A very, very big cupcake. Every swish of the rag made the floor look new and shiny. Mama let Lily pour another stream of wax on the floor and swish her rag back and forth through it. Lily was nearly having fun, if you could find anything fun about cleaning a house. Nearly. But she didn’t like that her fingers stuck together, just as if she had glued them. And the wax was stinky, too.
    Lily backed up to see how shiny the floor was looking. Shedidn’t realize the jug was right behind her. Her heel knocked it over and a big puddle of wax spilled all over the floor. Lily grabbed the jug and Mama hurried to get more rags. At that exact moment, baby Paul toddled into the kitchen. “Milk!” Lily heard him say, right before he stepped into the puddle of wax and his feet flew out from under him. He plopped right down in the middle of it and Lily expected him to start howling—but he was distracted by the wax puddle. He started swishing his hands and was quickly covered with stinky, sticky wax.
    Mama came back into the kitchen with the rags. Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened in a big  O . She dropped the rags and picked Paul up. “I think it’s time for you to have a bath, clean clothes, and a nice, long nap. In that order.”
    At the foot of the stairs, she stopped and turned, hesitation on her face. “Lily, do you think you can finish the floor while I take care of Paul?”
    â€œOh, yes!” How fun! “I’ll be extra careful not to spill any more wax,” Lily said. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Mama. Not a thing.”
    Mama seemed a little worried. “Take your time and go slow. Then, after you’re done, you can have the rest of the day to play.”
    That sounded like an ideal arrangement. Lily could keep icing the cupcake floor and she didn’t have a single brother around to bother her. Not one. And then she could play.
    Carefully, oh so carefully, Lily finished waxing the rest of the floor. She tried not to spill a drop. She couldn’t wait to put away the jug of wax and wash her hands. Lily thought about leaving the wax on her nails. It made them look pretty and shiny, but her hands felt sticky and smelled bad. She decided to go ahead and wash them. That jug of wax had caused enough trouble for one day, and Lily didn’t want Mama tohave to tell her why she couldn’t have shiny fingernails. She knew just what she would say: Too fancy.
    Lily washed and washed and washed her hands, thinking about what she should do next. Playing outside wasn’t as much fun without Joseph and Dannie. She went to her room to get Sally, her doll. She dressed Sally in her nicest clothes and wrapped her in