From the Mouths of Babes

My toddler and I have both been suffering from nasty colds these past few days. Luckily, there are a couple of things that make my toddler feel better, cheering him up and stopping him from clinging to my legs, crying plaintively, every time I move.

The first is Harry Potter. The films, not the books. My son is (of course) very advanced, bright and brilliant for his age (try to find a parent who claims otherwise about their offspring) but even he cannot read novels yet. The Harry Potter films, however, keep him amused and entertained for many an hour, while his neglectful mother concentrates on things like sneezing and generally feeling sorry for herself.

The second is hats. Specifically, putting them on my head. When I say 'hats', I mean random items that could perform as a hat, with varying degrees of success, in the imagination of a toddler. In other words, everything he can find that isn't too heavy to lift and put on my head. So I have spent considerable time with plastic rings, cups and assorted cars balanced on my head lately.

Yesterday, his cough was keeping him awake even though he was terribly tired, and although he asked several times to be put to bed for a nap in the afternoon, on each occasion after 10 minutes' sleep he woke up crying. Eventually, we both curled up together and watched Harry Potter for a while, and he perked up. I held my precious babe close and stroked his forehead as we snuggled up cosily together, and as I gave him a loving squeeze I asked "When you're poorly, who do you need to make you feel better?"

All my illusions that my place as the most important person in my toddler's life is unquestionable came cruelly tumbling down as he turned to me, beautiful golden curls in adorable disarray, an angelic smile on his lovely face, and replied:

"Dumbledore."