As I have mentioned previously, we’ve had a very stressful (and sad) time lately with one thing and another, and I have

found myself experiencing those anxious, irritable or overwhelmed feelings over things that wouldn’t usually bother me.

So, I have been making an extra concerted effort to keep things in perspective, to stop sweating the small stuff and putting more pressure on myself than is necessary.  Often I have found that by making a change in my perspective and how I view a problem, can completely change how I decide to tackle or experience it.

For example, some of you may remember me bemoaning the butt-ugly shopping centre floors with scattered squares which entice my boys to jump and wriggle their way through our shopping expeditions, driving me to distraction.  Well, they do something very similar on the walk between home and day care too, only there is not a coloured square or shopping trolley in sight.

It wasn’t until I heard the Woo sing out cheerily “Don’t step on the cracks, or you’ll fall and break your back,” that I realised exactly what they were doing.  I can remember walking to the shop with my dad, or to school with my mum as a child, bobbing up and down doing the exact same thing.

It was a time in my life when everything was so simple, my imagination was endless and magic was everywhere.

It made me smile thinking about it. 

“Can I play too?” I asked.

The boys beamed back at me, and a flurry of excited chatter ensued as The Woo explained the rules to me.  Although I have never heard them openly discuss these so called rules, Foghorn nodded his head solemnly as though every word of it were true.

The four of us had a blast this morning, with Bubble gleefully running and bobbing and giggling along with us, with her usual 21-month old blatant disregard for the rules.

As far as I am aware, there are no manuals to be found anywhere on the safest way to walk on a pavement, as it is not, once you dive into the realm of imagination and play, quite such an easy (or boring) act as it may seem.

For example:

By the time we arrived at day care we were all full of the joys of life and energised by the warmth of the spring sunshine.  I felt lighter and happier.  I felt I had connected with my children again in a way that had been missing for the past few weeks.  As ridiculous as it may sound, by running and jumping and laughing with my beautiful babies (oblivious to passers-by) I had a real sense of achievement and had taken a step closer to being more like the mother I am usually.

I’d made a conscious effort to throw off any worries, stress and sadness and had lived in the present.  Never underestimate the importance of being present in the here and now – happiness and the laughter are always waiting in the wings of the present for you to take them and use them  to make memories, that are beautiful, special and ordinary all at once.

I left The Woo, Foghorn and Bubble with promises this morning  that we would play again later on the way home, and we will.  But just between you and I…I couldn’t resist getting in a little extra practice, as I skipped, jumped and hopped my way home alone.