Shona got caught in some shocking traffic this afternoon, coming back from Sydney. She let me know in plenty of time, so I could just walk down to the pre-school & pick up Pumpkin & Gumnut. (free exercise is always good)

I powered on down with my headphones on, then, as a hustled the kids along on the way back, I realised I was rushing for no real reason! It’s quite nice to walk along with a little hand grasping each of yours, listening to the sense of wonder that accompanies every little noise, and every new happening that a child’s eyes see.

We spent 5 minutes on a bridge over a little mangrove creek. I’d have powered by without a second look, but the kids were entranced by ducks landing, swimming and taking off in front of them. We watched to see if we could spy little legs paddling (Pumpkin corrected me when I said they were kicking) under the water, and we tried to ascertain if the green-headed, colourful ones were the boys or the girls.

A short trip through a tunnel, cutting under a busy road, added another 5 minutes when we discovered that there was an echo in there just like in the kids favourite episode of their preferred “Movie Night” choice “Winnie the Pooh and the Super Sleuths.” Little two-year-old eyes lit up, as if he were performing magic, listening to that voice bouncing around over the din of cars.

Having pushed on, we finally got caught up with a near neighbour who started with a G’day, and ended up getting Pumpkin’s advice on where he had missed as he waxed his car, a thousand questions about a hundred different subjects from a bold little girl.

What took me 15 minutes on the way there took closer to 50 on the way back, but it was worth every second. Playing “hand squeezes” with my two big treasures, and listening to their appreciation of all I take for granted was a little piece of magic.

Who’d have thunk a chore could be the highlight of your day!