Goldilocks and the Three Houses

Goldilocks and the Three Houses
Written By Cynthia Chin-Lee, a friend of InnVision the Way Home

Once upon a time a young wife named Goldilocks was looking for a house for her family. (You may remember her; she once had a strange encounter with a bear family in the woods.) She met with her real estate agent, who took her to visit three houses in Silicon Valley where she wanted to live.

The first house she visited was a grandiose estate with ten acres of land, seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms. “Oh my,” she said. “This is way too large for my family to live in and I would be spending too much time cleaning those seven bathrooms!” As they were leaving, she noticed three bowls of porridge on the counter in the enormous kitchen. Since she was hungry, she took a bite of the porridge in the biggest bowl. Ouch. It was too hot. She tasted the porridge in the middle bowl. It was too cool. Finally she ate a spoon of porridge from the small bowl. It was just right. So she ate it all up. And then she thought, “Why does this remind me of something that happened to me before?”

The second house she visited was a smaller home on a smaller lot in town. It had three bedrooms and one bathroom and a rather dumpy kitchen. “Oh my,” she said.” This is way too small for my family to live in, and it doesn’t have any place for our golden retriever to roam.” As they were leaving, she felt tired and sat down in a big leather chair in the living room. It was too hard and uncomfortable. She moved to a medium upholstered chair, but it was too soft. Finally, she plunked down into the smallest chair and rested for several minutes. It was just right until she leaned back and the chair fell apart right there. “Oops, we better go,” she told the agent.

The third house she visited was a medium-sized house, of about 3,000 square feet on a generous lot of two acres, wooded with heritage oak trees, redwoods, and Japanese maples. It had three nice bedrooms and an impressive gourmet kitchen. “Oh, wow,” she said.” This is just perfect for my family of four to live in. “It even has a fenced area for our golden retriever to run around in.” She stayed a long time at the house, admiring the crown molding, hardwood floors, and the vaulted ceilings of the gorgeous kitchen. Goldilocks enjoyed cooking and her husband loved to entertain. She thought to herself. “The kids will like the family room and exploring the tiny creek running through the lot.”

She stayed so long that she felt sleepy and wandered off to one of the bedrooms, the one with the large custom closets and a sliding glass door that opened to the landscaped garden. First she lay down on the big bed. It was way too hard. Then she tried the medium bed. It was way too soft. Finally, she lay down on the small bed. It was so nice and comfy that she quickly fell asleep, dreaming of the home in Los Altos Hills with the beautiful Bay and mountain views. But then the real estate agent roused her from her dreams.

“Goldilocks get up! You fell asleep again.”

Goldilocks was quite startled but she was so glad the real estate agent was not a big mad bear family. She sighed in relief. “I love this house and it’s just right for my family. How do I get it?”

“Buy a few tickets from the Los Altos Hills Home Raffle! Go to www.InnVision.org and click on the raffle link to download an order entry form or call 1-877-225-2111 to buy tickets by phone. You’ll help InnVision serve those without homes. For a mere $150, you’ll have a chance to win this perfect home, close to everything in Silicon Valley, but a tranquil haven in the country. And there are no bears here, Goldilocks!”

Cynthia Chin-Lee is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University, a graduate fellow of East-West Center in Honolulu and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Cynthia's books are available from amazon.com and Kepler's Books, an independent bookstore in Menlo Park, CA.