Back from the dead

A year ago our house rabbit, Moppet, passed away at the grand old age of nearly 11.  LM took it quite well and understood that Moppet was now buried  (very deep & under some rocks for fear of the foxes disinterring him) in the garden, happy because he was no longer suffering from afore-mentioned old age & illness.

However, today LM was helping me with the cleaning & I asked him to put something in the utility room.  When he looked at me blankly I said, "You know, Moppet's room" as that was where the rabbit had his living quarters & we had always referred to it so.  LM paused for thought & asked, "When will Moppet come out of his hole in the ground?"  Death isn't an easy thing to explain & not wanting to go too deeply into the subject I just explained again about how Moppet had been old & ill & so was much happier now, sleeping in his hole & he wouldn't wake up.

To which LM replied "Well, when Daddy snores he won't be able to sleep!"  

I had no answer for that.

Moppet RIP

Food for thought

The Times this weekend had a excerpt from the new parenting 'bible' "French kids don't throw food".  I was keen to read this because I am a self-confessed francophile but quickly became irritated by the assumption that British (& American) kids were ill-behaved embarrassments in a restaurant.  LM is a dream dinner date.  Indeed I have even gone out on my with him as a treat ... for both of us.  He has been eating out with us from a very early age when he would watch us whilst sucking a cucumber stick to death and I'm convinced that that's why he is so good now.

 In fact I would go so far as to say that he eats better in a restaurant, clearing his plate with no fuss.

And whilst his favourite food when out is fish, chips & beans (& the fish doesn't have to be in finger form - he loves mackerel) he is quite happy to try new things too - even curry.
My LM may not be French but he doesn't have to be - I'm proud of his gastronomic behaviour.  I think if we assume our kids will misbehave then we are selling them short.

PS I should point out the author wasn't French but did live in France

Supermarket Sweep

I think there has been some misunderstanding over the size of the extension that is currently going up here.  Over dinner LM was asking where I had bought some of the ingredients & when I mentioned Tesco he said "In big Tesco?  But it's not as big as our new house"  (LM is convinced that the extension is a separate house.  Consequently we will, according to him, soon have 2 houses).  I guess to a little person the new rooms in their unfinished state look pretty big, but as big as a supermarket?  Does he think he's going to need a trolley to get around? Perhaps I should bring in a reward card to encourage him to tidy up - or is he expecting a shelf stacker to follow him round & sort everything?

Chewing a wasp

Happy New Year.  Hope it's all going well so far.
 LM is now back at pre-school so we are returning to a routine of sorts. Christmas was good (a lot of "Wow!"s from LM so Father Christmas clearly knows his stuff) and even better were the lie ins - most days LM didn't surface until 9 which was just brilliant, particularly New Years Day.

Over the holidays he has discovered a new favourite breakfast ... hornets! Well, he calls them hornets.  You or I would probably refer to them by their more traditional name, crumpets.  Don't ask how LM came up with that name, because I really have no idea but imagine my amusement watching people's faces as he excitedly tells them that Nanny has hornets for breakfast.

We go way back

LM & I were playing with Lego & I was telling him how I used to play with it when I was little.  He said "And did you say 'Why?' a lot when you were little too?  When you were talking to Daddy?"  It made me smile to think that to him Mummy & Daddy have always been together and whilst he's coming to understand that there was life before he was born, he hasn't quite got his head round how it all hangs together and who's related to whom.

LM has a new name for Daddy which is 'Smelly raspberry, blackberry pie' - no idea where he got it from but it's quite sweet if you don't count the 'smelly' bit.

We are pretty much ready for Christmas and LM is very excited ("only 2 more bedtimes!").  Here's hoping that a usually fairly decent hour riser will stick to it & not get up at the crack of dawn (although I'm quite sure Father Christmas hasn't got anything noisy for the stocking).

Happy Christmas

Question Time

LM, like all children his age, asks a lot of questions but I was a bit perturbed by today's "What do you see if you chop a seagull up?"  My bumbled answer of "well, blood & muscles and stuff"  led to more questions on why do seagulls eat blood and whether we eat blood and why.  Where is this coming from?
Maybe I should get him to send his question to Nina & the Neurones on Cbeebies.  I'd like to see her remain so cheerful answering that one.

One festivity over...another begins

Well the 4th birthday celebrations are over & I can start thinking about Christmas.  LM's Pirate & Mermaid party (he shared with a girl from pre-school) went well.  The entertainer, Elfic the Juggler, went down a storm (unfortunately I can't take the credit for booking him) & was vaguely reminiscent vocally of Mr Maker, which may explain his success with a bunch of 3 & 4 yr olds who I was sure would run riot whilst the poor man tried his best to carry on with the show, but who were instead transfixed & in fits of giggles.  If you ask LM what the best bit of the show was, he will tell you it was Elfic dropping things & standing on the horn.  Slapstick rules!

My cheeky little pirate

And now we are in full preparation mode for the pre-school Nativity where LM has finally accepted that he is not a train (maybe next time the school could do Polar Express?) and has helped choose an outfit & make the crown & gift (cue much glitter everywhere).  He seems to think he has no singing to do, or at least refuses to practice, but we shall see next week if he is going to get into the spirit of the thing or repeat Easter's non-performance.
That's if I see any of it through the tears of a proud mum.