Julian has been into a band I've been playing lately, Lost in the Trees. "That's a funny name," he remarked. "Why?" I asked.

"Well, if you're lost in lots of trees, then it should be called Lost in the Forest. And if you're lost in one tree - when you climb up a tree, you hide in it, you get lost in all the branches, and that's the whole point, mummy."

What a kid!

He says other funny things, such as when he decided he didn't like a drawing of his, which I loved. "Don't be impressed by it, mummy," he demanded.

Zaida Manny

Julian has become a very proficient drawer and a very dedicated artist. In the midst of school holiday hell - and boy, have we ever seen all the parks in the surrounds - I decided to bulk up on craft paper, glue, sequins, etc. Julian has had a field day, but what he really likes to do is draw, mainly pictures of himself. He sends them off to his friends with random words written on them that he has made me write, usually: rainbow river, sprinkles, chocolate, Ken, whipper-snipper. Kind of shows you where his head is at. Anyway, today he decided to draw a picture of himself and told me he wanted to send it to Zaida Manny, "to remind him of what I look like." I didn't even know he thought about my late father. Anyway, I did explain we could send it but that Zaida Manny had died. It was a rather complex conversation, which ended with Julian saying, "Today I am the saddest boy in the world." He was happy, however, with my solution: that we send his picture to the synagogue my father attended, and perhaps they could incorporate the picture in a prayer.

 

Oh, school holidays. Who invented this idea? I know I'm supposed to fly away (with the children, although without is a fun idea) to a beach locale and give them a real taste of summer holidays, but I can't even envision what that plane trip would be like. So, instead, we have endless, endless days of nothing in our hometown, as I scramble to fill the hours. As a result: a ton of playdates (both here and at other people's houses), daily park visits and a few bigger excursions: last week, we went to the zoo. I've been trying to sell Julian on the idea that an anything is an adventure, including a trip to the supermarket, or - as was the case today - buying me a CD (Death Cab for Cutie) and then going to pick up some food for my mum's. Instead, he said, "I didn't know you were shlepping - I don't want to shlep with you," and he opted for a park visit with his dad, instead.