Wittle Soot

Still trying to find his bearing with his little mate gone off to school, a morose little boy wanders into the kitchen, and wraps himself around my legs. “I wuvs oo, mummy”. His softly spoken words are only just audible as he speaks into my jeans. I reach down, and pull him up to sit on my hip, as if he wasn’t three and a half, and packing a pretty decent weight. I squeeze him until he giggles, and the I drop a kiss on the tip of his upturned nose. “I love you too baby.”, and with one last squeeze, lower him down, and as his feet hit the floor, he grabs for my hand, and starts pulling me toward the toy room. “We do a dinosaur cwaft, mummy? Wif a wittle wound head, and a loooonnngggg neck, and a looooonnnnnggg tail, and a BIG wound tummy, and short wegs. We make dat, like a Wittle Soot?” Little Foot is one of his favourite dinosaurs from Land Before Time, and so I pull out the craft boxes, set us up on the patio table, and with my little art director beside me, start marking out a “Wittle Soot” outline. The tiny round head. The long neck. The big round tummy. The long tail. The short stumpy legs. The out comes the glue and feathers and paper, and his imagination takes flight.

Butterfly, of course, refused to be left out. As punishment for my sins, as I sketched with Bubba Boy, she went box diving, and found an interesting ball of wool. That was soon an interesting pile of wool. Some paint and a cotton bug soon had her on track and thrilled to be involved. “Pa, mummy, pa!!”

Friday is here, and autumn too. Yet despite the change of the seasons, it’s as hot as it’s been all year. Lots to do this weekend. Mowing the jungle that’s appeared after the rain. Weeding gardens. Freeranging chickens. A photowalk with my boys. Bike rides, and a boy impatient for the training wheels to come off. Hopefully sneaking a bit of creative time. But first and foremost, family time. To make it happen, today is kicking into top gear. Getting our jobs done. Deliveries, music and drama classes. Blogging. Planning. Organising. Plenty to do, not enough time. Happy Friday everyone, let’s do this!