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| - Mrs. Read: Ow. Mrs. Read: Oh, my throat. Arthur: (entering the room) Mom! Where's my stripey shirt?! Mrs. Read: Your what? Arthur: (walking by Kate, who is smearing baby food on her head) My shirt. The green and orange stripes. The one I always play softball in. It's not in my drawer. Mrs. Read: (emptying the kettle) Uh, check the dryer. Arthur: It's not in the dryer! Mrs. Read: (cleaning up the spilled food, as Pal looks on hungrily) Check the washer! Arthur: It's all wet! (heading back to the kitchen) What am I going to wear to the softball game? Mrs. Read: (as the phone rings, and Pal sniffs her cloth hopefully) Sorry, Arthur. I guess I forgot to put it in the dryer. (picks up the phone) Hello?! ... Pal?! Mrs. Read: Hi, Mrs. Tibble! (Pal wins the tug-of-war.) Huh?! Oh, I completely forgot! Arthur: Can I wear one of Dad's shirts? The one he got for Parents Day? Mrs. Read: (grabbing the pitcher) Uh, sure. Arthur: (raising his fists in triumph and exiting) Yeah! Mrs. Read: Tell D.W. I'll be there in five minutes. Bye! ~~~~~ Buster: "Is There a Doctor in the House?" ~~~~~ Arthur: Then I hit the ball over the fence. I've never ever done that. That's how I know your shirt is lucky. Mr. Read: You were wearing my Parents Day shirt? Arthur: I thought my stripey shirt was lucky. Mr. Read: Why were you wearing my Parents Day shirt? I hope you're gonna wash it. Arthur: Your shirt is way lucky. Mr. Read: It's a nice shirt, Arthur. It's pima cotton. D.W.: Timmy and Tommy have paper bag puppet friends and they said they're only $19.95. You can color them. They're educational. Can I have one, please? D.W.: Can I please? Please? Please? D.W.: Please? Please? Mrs. Read: Can't we just have a little peace and quiet for once? Mrs. Read: (moans) Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong. I just haven't been feeling myself all day. Mr. Read: Yup, you've got a fever. Congratulations, Mrs. Read, you've earned yourself a couple of days of bed-rest. Mrs. Read: (sniffles) I'm sure I'll be fine by morning. I know you're catering that tea tomorrow. Mr. Read: You just concentrate on getting better. Arthur: Yeah, Mom, don't worry. We'll take care of everything. D.W.: I call this one "Baginnini." He sings, la la la, de doo la de... Mr. Read: Hey, look who's up. How'd you sleep? Are you feeling better? Arthur: Mom, do you want a maple doughnut? D.W.: Look what I made! Isn't is good? Look. Mrs. Read: (sighs) No. Mr. Read: Don't worry. As soon as I get back from catering the tea party, I'm gonna clean this house. Come on, Kate, time for your nap. D.W.: Arthur, I'm worried about Dad. Arthur: (turning to her) Why? He's not sick. D.W.: Yeah, but he can't clean the whole house by himself. It takes Mom almost all day to clean the house and look. It's already that time. D.W.: What if Mom is sick for a couple of days? The house will just keep getting dirtier. D.W.: There'll be no clean dishes. The dust bunnies will be hopping around everywhere. We'll be living in a pigstew! Arthur: It's pigsty, D.W. But you're right. He could use some help. Mr. Read: I'm leaving! I'll be back in a few hours. Stay out of trouble. D.W.: Wait. Mom always folds laundry first. Rabbit-man: I have something to confess to you. I'm not Sheldon. Rabbit-woman: You're not? Then who are you? Not Sheldon: I'm Shelby, Sheldon's twin. I should have told you sooner, Karen. Rabbit-woman: I'm not Karen. I'm Kara. Karen's my undercover name. Shelby: Undercover? Kara: Yes. I'm with the police. I'm supposed to arrest you, but I can't. I love you, Sheldon. Shelby: I'm Shelby, Karen. Kara: Kara. Call me Kara. Arthur: All done with the vacuuming. How's the laundry going? D.W.: Great. D.W.: (still trying to hang in the robe) Stay! ... Hmph! Arthur: What's wrong with Kate? D.W.: I don't know. I was just making Daddy's pajamas stay on the hook in the bathroom and she started crying. Arthur: Uh-oh. D.W.: That's your job. Arthur: Why's it my job? You've seen Mom change her just as many times as I have. D.W.: You're older. Arthur: So? You're closer to Kate's age. You probably remember how it's done. D.W.: Okay, we'll shoot for it. Arthur and D.W.: Rock, paper, scissors, shoot! Arthur: (raising his hands in victory) Paper beats rock! I win again! D.W.: Come on! Best of 35! Arthur: Hey, D.W., look. (Baby Kate is asleep.) D.W.: We can't change her now. It'll wake her up. Arthur: Okay. They creep out of the room. Back downstairs, they are watching The Bionic Bunny Show together. D.W.: You know, doing all those chores wasn't so bad. Arthur: Yeah. I don't know why Mom and Dad are always complaining that they're so busy. It only took us a few hours. D.W.: I can't wait to see Daddy's face when he sees all the work we did. Mr. Read: Why was my shirt buried in the yard? D.W.: Oh. That's where it was. Arthur's crazy dog must have stolen it. I couldn't find it when I was putting your clothes away. Mr. Read: You were putting my clothes away? Arthur: Uh-huh. We did all the housework for you. D.W. did the laundry, I did the dishes... Mr. Read: Um... is something burning? Arthur: Oh, that's just the vacuum cleaner. Something happened to it when I was vacuuming the den. Mr. Read: (poking a screwdriver in the vacuum cleaner) You have to pick up the big pieces by hand before you vacuum. (extracts a chain of paper clips, sighs) Oh. I'll fix it in the morning. Mr. Read: Ugh! Did you scrape the dishes and close the little detergent door in the dishwasher? Arthur: Um, I'm not sure. Arthur: We were gonna change her, but then she fell asleep. Mr. Read: (disposing of the dirty diaper) That's okay. It was nice of you to try to help. (coughs) I don't feel so great. I think I'll get into my pajamas and hit the hay. (He grabs Kate and moves her to her crib.) D.W.: What about dinner? Mr. Read: There are leftover finger sandwiches in the fridge. (He leaves the room, sneezing.) Arthur: I guess we didn't do as good a job as we thought. D.W.: You mean you didn't. Daddy didn't say anything about the laundry. Mr. Read: Who cut a hole in my pajamas?! D.W.: I'm scared. Can I get in with you? I don't wanna wake Mom and Dad. Arthur: Okay. (shakes his head) But not with the cow. D.W.: Mary's scared too. D.W.: Arthur, what if Mom and Dad aren't better by tomorrow? Arthur: You heard what Mom said. Grandma Thora is coming over. She'll help with the housework. D.W.: (getting up) But what if they don't get better for a long time? (Arthur yawns.) Grandma can't come every day. She's got bingo on Friday and her summer aerobics class and... Arthur: Go to sleep, D.W. Arthur: Hi, D.W.! I'm home! D.W.: I'm at the computer! How was the wedding? Arthur: I was fired again. Arthur: Boy, the catering business is tough when you only know how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. D.W.: Hey, you got the easy job! You think it's easy being an accountant when you can't count past ten? Arthur: Are Mom and Dad feeling any better today? D.W.: Does that answer your question? Oh, by the way, I sent Kate to the orphanage. Arthur: (the camera focuses on his face as lightning flashes and thunder crashes) What?! D.W.: We just couldn't take care of her, Arthur. She deserves to be in a place where they change her diapers. Arthur: That's true. Besides, it's one less mouth to feed. But I sure will miss her. D.W.: (voice breaking) Me too. If only we had paid attention to all the work Mom and Dad do. Maybe we could have run the house better. Arthur: I know! We're terrible parents! Arthur: I had the weirdest nightmare. D.W.: Me too. Arthur and D.W.: Kate! D.W.: Should we get Mom and Dad? Arthur: I don't know. If they don't get enough sleep, they might not get better, and... D.W.: I'll get the clothespins! Arthur: This isn't so bad. Arthur: I'm just gonna clean the dishes before breakfast. D.W.: I'll get the sponge mop. Arthur: I'll just bring Mom and Dad their breakfast and then we'll clean the... D.W.: Why do you get to take it up to them? Arthur: Because it's too heavy for you. D.W.: (grabbing at it) No it isn't. I can do it! Arthur: Let go, D.W.! D.W.: Let go! You're gonna spill it! Arthur: No, you let go! D.W.: You let go! Grandma Thora: I'll take it up to them. But first, let's just see the state of affairs here. Your father said there was a dishwasher full of dirty dishes. Arthur: Yeah. Because I forgot to scrape the plates and close the little detergent door. Grandma Thora: (opening the dishwasher door) So, where are they? Arthur: We washed them all by hand this morning. Grandma Thora: Really? Okay, well, let's just give Kate a fresh diaper. D.W.: Already did that too. Grandma Thora: They folded the laundry, they emptied the trash, and the house is spic and span. I don't see why you two felt you needed to call in the reserves. Arthur and D.W. run a very tight ship. Mrs. Read: I guess we've trained them well. Mr. Read: Yeah. Maybe we should get sick more often. Arthur: Wow. It's not even noon and I'm already wiped out. D.W.: (sitting at the table, bags under her eyes) Me too. Running this house is hard work. At least we only have to deal with two sick people and not... D.W.: (facepalms) Oh, no!
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