I had not cosidered the "old woman who lived in a shoe" motif. that actually brings life back to daddy on the couch idea.

mommy says be quite because daddy is on the couch today.............(kid is maybe a little down because he wanted to play catch with dad)..... story, story,story.... in the end the kid is suprised/happy/over joyed when daddy drags his tired butt off the couch to fulfill his promise and play with kid.

story could have some repitition like when kid comes to a conclusion about what daddy does a makes a leap to some fantastic idea: i.e. "I could be wrong, but daddy is an astronaut/cowboy/knight. That must be it!" Not sure if that would work outside of a Suess-like format.