It is strange how a little one can change everything. My house has been thoroughly colonised by Maeve and it isn't just the child spaces. the once adult spaces have echoes of her: Peter Rabbit lies on my pillow like it's his right to do so, crayons and odd bits of toys, half eaten raisins snuggle next to my wallet in my handbag,the potty sits proudly beside the toilet bowl, my doors (at least the bottom half) have modern art (at least that's what i see it as) renditions, as does my coffee table, smoo milk adorns every possible surface, the sound system in the car and house play mother goose ad infinitum, my shoes appear in all strange corners and i usually can't find something or the other, whisked away and hidden by the industrious squirrel...and yes, my lipsticks serve double duty as crayon and face paint. Yet...yet, i wouldn't have it any other way. If i were to take away the echoes of her, the house and everything with it will sigh away, empty and devoid of meaning. how a little one can fill all those spaces so quickly and so easily, leaving you wondering how on earth you survived before on the emptiness. and time marches on. i think i'll be a hopeless mess when she goes to kindergarten and waves me away from the kindy doors.