It was a normal November morning—except for one thing.
Everyone was upset about something.
My brother, Tate, was upset because of me.
"Mom!" Tate yelled.
"I found more of Iggy's junk in my closet!"
I had moved into my own room a while ago.
I guess I'd left some stuff behind.
"Tell him to get it out of here!" Tate complained.
My mom walked into my room.
"Iggy, please clean your stuff out of Tate's closet today after school," she said.
Suddenly she looked around my room.
Then she got upset.
"And clean your own room, Iggy!" she added.
"It's a mess!"
Of course my room is a mess.
It's the room of a brilliant inventor—me, Iggy!
Brilliant people always have messy rooms.
I bet Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb, had a super messy room.
And I bet his mom didn't tell him to clean it up!
She probably knew that he was busy thinking up clever new inventions, just like me.
That morning I walked to school with my friends Molly, Josh, and Jenny.
And Molly was upset too.
She told us why as we walked along.
"My mom hired a babysitter for Caswell and me," she said.
"Mom wanted some time to meet a friend or go shopping."
"That's great," I said.
"Meeting a friend always puts my mom in a good mood."
"But you don't understand," said Molly.
"I don't like Lucy, our new babysitter."
"Is she mean, like a wicked stepmother?" asked Jenny.
Jenny's class was reading fairy tales.
Fairy tales have lots of wicked stepmothers in them.
"No, Lucy is not mean," said Molly.
"Why don't you like her then?" asked Josh.
"Well," said Molly, "she talks on her cell phone a lot.
And she and Caswell watch the TV show Monster Madness every day."
"That sounds like fun," I said.
"My mom won't let Tate and me watch any TV after school."
"Monster Madness is a pretty scary show," said Molly.
"Even when I'm in my room, I can still hear the monsters roaring.
Now I can't sleep at night!"
"Why don't you just ask Lucy if you can watch something else?" I said.
"No way!" Molly replied.
"Lucy and Caswell would think I'm a big baby.
Caswell is much younger than I am, and he's not scared at all!"
That morning Molly yawned at least ten times during social studies.
"Molly," said our teacher, Mrs. Romano.
"What did Egyptian children do in their spare time?"
"Sleep?" said Molly, yawning again.
Everyone laughed, except for Mrs. Romano and me.
Mrs. Romano seemed annoyed that Molly wasn't paying attention.
And I was a little worried about our language arts project.
Soon we were going to start writing books.
Molly and I were partners, so I needed her to be alert and wide-awake.
On the way home after school we passed Bubbles Bath Shop.
Josh and Jenny's dad had recently gotten a job there.
We stopped and looked in the window.
A sign read "Bathe Your Worries Away In A Relaxing Bubble Bath!"
"Bubbles Bath Shop sells lots of different kinds of bubble bath soap," said Jenny.
"Chocolate, strawberry, and even bubble gum," added Josh.
Suddenly I got an idea for a new invention.
It was an invention that would help Molly relax.
It might also keep my mom and Tate from getting upset with me.
Now that would really be a great invention!