"can it be that life was so simple then"

whether barbra is singing about life pre-yentl or the life of a child, i’m not certain, but honestly, they really are experts at simplification.

the other day, i was giving explicit colours to the girls new stripy sweaters, much to their rapture. the light green was "mint" the red was "cerise", the blue was "azure". the girls were repeating the words and then promptly forgetting them, so their fingers were travelling up and down their arms with the repeated question, "mummy, what colour is this?" it was a great way to spend time in a taxi.

finally, expecting that young jasper might be feeling out of sorts, i looked over at him and he said expectantly, pointing to a sticker he had received in sunday school, "mummy, what’s this?" and i said,

"that’s gold, jasper!"

and he replied with faint derision "no mummy, that’s a star".

we’ve had a friend staying wtih us for the past couple of days, scott is a favourite guest because he comes and goes easily, is happy to read lots of books, never compares the kids to other kids, is indpendent, he comes and goes, is happy to listen to one sentence kids stoires that take 10 minute to complete and never interrupts and has the kids screaming with laughter with his own tales. i hear them outside his room at 7am, they’re scuttling around, and then one of them will remember he is in the playroom and the one child who has a memory will say, "oh! shh! mr scott!" and the rest of them will quiet down, and as a group i will hear them taking three silent steps away from the playroom door and then the noise level raises again.

i laugh at my kids.

the weather here, for those who are interested, is chilly in the mornings but generally quite nice, high teens, in the afternoon, even early 20’s. but thse early morning…crikey!!! cold kids hands touching me, their little feet walking over mine because they refuse to wear slippers…come on!