Slice of life. Because life is worth remembering

I woke up at 6am, a small boy asking for a cuddle. Then tea. And then another cuddle. After dispensing warm beverages and cuddles, I headed upstairs abandoning my children to our au pair called Wii so that I could tackle work admin.

Whenever I do work admin, I sort of understand what drives accountants to do their jobs. There's something so satisfying about adding things up in little spreadsheets and filing papers away that have cluttered up your desk for a month.

Three hours later, sporting a halo made of completed to do lists, I headed downstairs again to feed the children who at this point had made it to level one billion of whatever game they were playing.

I then broke the news to them that their granny was not very well and they needed to make her Get Well cards. So they set about drawing pictures for her, while I got online to order some flowers for her. And there's something about sending someone flowers that just puts a spring in your step. And it got even springier when I saw the pictures my children had drawn.

Son 1 had put a huge amount of effort into drawing his granny lying in a hospital bed (with bed legs splayed out underneath it as though she'd eaten too many pies and it couldn't quite cope with the weight. Dimensions are hard, I can't draw either). He'd also drawn a matching wall cupboard and side table with flowers and chocolates, with a cheery message inside saying: HAVE FUN IN HOSPITAL! Not quite sure that's what she'll be doing but nice sentiment.

Meanwhile Son 2 who until recently has drawn nothing but scribbles drew a bunch of flowers. And I can say in all honesty that they were beautiful and perfect, which for him is miraculous.

Then we headed into town to get jobs done. That included buying heaps of birthday, fathers day and other random cards, writing them and posting them. And posting a bunch of things like clothes that needed returning and vital business papers. All very, very satisfying.

Following a yummy meal at Pizza Express, we headed into the Corn Exchange to see the Owl & the Pussycat. I had my doubts as to how they were going to turn a short Edward Lear poem into an hour long drama production, but they did. And it was fantastic. Hilarious, heartwarming and just plain lovely. My boys loved it too, but not as much as me obviously, as the lady sitting next to me pointed out based on my guffawing throughout.

Then we took the Poopmobile to the car wash. The Poopmobile is much like the Popemobile, only with fewer people wearing pointy hats. Our car is just as bulletproof as the windows have been reinforced with bird shit. So we took it to the carwash, which the kids thought was fantastic fun with the scary rollers trying to get them through the windows.

Alas. £5.50 worth of carwash did not shift the amount of poop we had on our car. So we took it home and spent a solid hour and a half cleaning it. All three of us. The children were actually useful. I know that sounds suprising and yes they did insist on washing the car with dirty sponges right after I'd finished cleaning a bit, but they got completely stuck in. And didn't even argue about who had the bigger sponge.

After a fairly crap dinner (gnocchi with instant sauce), I left them to Wii again, while I caught up on work email. I heard wails of 'I'm hungry'. So I instructed son 1 how to make a snackwich. He did it. I watched. Marvellous. Another notch up the ladder of independence. I returned to work.

I heard noises from downstairs. I ignored them. I heard: "Mummy, can you help me cut my snackwich please, it's a bit hard". I went downstairs. Son 2 (age 5) had made himself a snackwich without having been shown how. What's more, he'd used a butter knife to cut the cheese so he wouldn't hurt himself, he put everything that he took out back where it belonged. And the only thing he did wrong, was put his snackwich in the machine and forgot it was there, so it got a little crisp (ok, very crisp).

And then we had bath and bedtime without a fuss. I got to answer questions like 'who makes planets' and 'who invented clothes' - it was Adam and Eve according to Son 1.

Now I sit in my quiet house, with a glass of wine on a summer's evening. And I'm thinking about how lovely this day has been. Nothing extraordinary. But just so satisfying in so many ways. The only thing casting a shadow is knowing that my lovely mother-in-law (83) is in hospital with a blood clot on her lung.

We take every day things like health and knowing you have family for granted, so that when those things are compromised, its a wake up call. That's what today has been, and what this blog post, is about. A reminder to myself to take note of the little things that pass by in day to day life that are simple yet wonderful. Because they may not always be there.