Knots!

A few weeks ago Dexter taught himself how to tie a knot. He practised on the drawstring of his pants. Quickly moved onto some thick cord from his lacing animals. For a week or so every visit to the playground saw Dexter tying and weaving long grass, slowly honing his knot tying skills. One day a week or two ago, he proudly announced he no longer needed me to tie off the end of the thread when he does his embroidery now. And then, the piece de resistance, he figured out how to tie a balloon.

Well! For him, this was a moment of total and utter joy, the sense of accomplishment he felt was so delightful to witness. And for me - can I say it's up there with the first time he learnt to push himself on the swing. Or turn the tap on by himself. Brilliant! Much like pushing kids on the swing, tying balloons isn't exactly my ideal pastime. These boys go through a packet of balloons every week. They use them in their experiments, in crafting, filled with water for bombing the backyard...whatever they can think of. I am interrupted a hundred times a day to please mum, can you just tie this one last one?! What a relief to be finally stood down from my duty as official tier of knots! (Though, I am still the master of UNtying knots for the time being. A duty I often find myself doing in the laundry as I load the washing machine nowadays - because while sitting in the car, or sitting in a cafe or watching telly, he continues to absentmindedly experiment with this knot tying business on his pant's drawstrings. Hmmm).