Saturday, November 01, 2008

... the old man is snoring...

I just want to show you a little bit of what sort of a day this has been.



Cold, basically. And wet. And grey and somewhat glorious. With the frog at work all day, the spud and I went out in the rain, foolishly, me with the desire to run him into some semblance of exhaustion and he with the desire to ride his scooter and throw himself into the park at full throttle.

We started in the playground where he abandoned his scooter. The slide was too wet even for him so we proceeded to the one-o-clock club where he rode the hell out of anything with wheels for 10 minutes; but we had to leave a little sharpish when he got protective of his rights to the wagon.

Then I carried his scooter to the duck pond where, due to it being a freezing cold rainy day, the ducks hadn't had a hand-out in living memory and therefore swarmed the spud's proffered crumbs. Hungry young crows muscled swiftly in on our bread action and for a moment it was very Hitchcockian - but by the time my superior mothering instincts had kicked in and I had got out the camera, the bread had been consumed and my son was gaily scudding about the flock with his arms at full mast.

The crows retreated.


This, however was by no means the end of the sojourn, despite the increasing rain. Next, I followed behind him (carrying his scooter) into the walled garden where we spent time sitting on various sheltered benches and walking around all the paths and patting rogue dogs and jumping over things a lot. When I stopped clapping at every jump, the spud walked up and grabbed one of my hands in each of his and clapped my hands for me.



Then, I tried to get him home, but instead he demanded that we go to the paddling pool - the sort of demanding that involves no screaming or shouting or tantrums but rather the sound of little wellie boots on tarmac, running the wrong way. It was belting down and the drain in the centre was gulping water - luckily leaving a few messy puddles around its lip for some handy stomping.



By this time I had been carrying his scooter for nearly an hour and was soaking wet, cold and thinking hungrily of a cup of tea.

I picked him up to carry him home but he struggled down and ran up the hill to the long way home. We picked up some leaves and he said the word 'yellow' and 'reaves' and finally asked for his scooter. He scooted merrily up the hill and then along until he was distracted by some absolutely bonkers people playing tennis, the yellow balls like emergency flares against the sky. Then he ran off across the grass in the general direction of the BMX bike track, at which point I picked him (and his scooter) firmly up and carried him the rest of the way home, warming his icy little hands against my cheeks singing 'It's raining it's pouring' while he giggled and pretended to snore against my shoulder.

We had hot chocolate while our coats steamed on the radiators. We took off our socks and sat on the sofa making 'mmmm' noises and grinning at each other and then the spud went for a nap and I made pumpkin cookies. Later, he had some friends over, still in their pyjamas having had a rainy day inside; and they ran amok and devoured mountains of baking while the cat cowered and their parents drank tea and kept a low profile.

If I tell you that he went to sleep like a stone, I hardly think you'll be surprised.

I rather hope it rains again tomorrow.

13 comments:

Michelle said...

These photos are just amazing, as was your perfectly lovely stroll with the Spud. You share these moments with such honesty and clarity. He is one lucky little boy!

cactus petunia said...

That was fun!
I'm sitting here at my computer in Portland, Oregon and it's pouring outside...and I'll never forget those times with my kids. After a day like that, it's a happy kind of exhaustion, isn't it?
Thanks for sharing it!

darth sardonic said...

those kindsa days are brilliant in their simplicity and joy. hold onto them tightly.

Helen said...

These are the best kinds of days. Lately, I've been blowing off my other responsibilities (who needs a clean house, really) to spend a little time like this with the Pixie. It's worth it. We've started dancing in the living room in the mornings, and she now demands I hold her hand when a certain Beatles song comes on. Those are the things you remember forever.

Thanks for sharing your day! It was lovely to read about ;)

Unknown said...

a perfect snapshot of a perfect English autumn! You can't beat taking the children out in their wellies ending the day with a hot choc!

Ivanna said...

What a lovely way to spend a rainy day! And what a lovely post! I could almost smell the hot chocolate and pumpkin cookies when I was done reading! :)

Helen + ilana = Hi said...

Can you be my mommy please

Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings said...

I love those days when they play so hard they completely crash that night. Unfortunately, my child plays hard and then pushes past the exhaustion into cranky, screaming, nightmare phase and we have to manually turn him off -- forcing him into bed and darkness to help his engines wind down.

But the fun before it was so worth it!

Rob Clack said...

Great post, great photos. I don't get here often enough!

jenny said...

Oh Sparx! That sounds like a perfect rainy day!! I should go out with the kids the next time it rains here.. They have not played in the rain in so long.

We are having some nice weather, no complaints here-- that means not having to fire up the wood stove. Actually warm enough to go out with short sleeves! imagine that! In November!

Sparx said...

Hi Michelle - thanks hon... I'm lucky too though.

Cactus - I reckon you're right, I'll always remember this kind of day over the rubbish kind...

Darth - yeah for that one.

Helen - thanks! I'm all for blowing off responsibilities!!!

Tara - no indeed... the hot choc is that much better for the cold hours beforehand too, hey?

Ivanna - thanks! And I have to say, it all did smell really good too...

Helen HI! You have a lovely Mummy already and I know you treasure here. And, further, you're also a GREAT Mum yourself!

Jonny's Mommy - yes, we have those days too, quite often! Hard to time it right to get them down just when they're sleepy some nights, hey?

Rob - hello! Come by anytime - I don't get round your way much either.

Jenny - wow, that's amazing round your way! I saw you were out in your shirtsleeves and thought it looked unlikely!

Sue said...

And for the umpteenth time, I cannot get over how fast the spud is growing up on us.

:(

Richard C. Lambert said...

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