A Quiet Walk

I took the kids for a walk last night down by Rudyard Lake. I wanted to teach them to breathe in, hold it, exhale and repeat whilst being aware of the beautiful noise of the lake waves patting the banks whilst the blackbirds sang their final notes before nightfall.

What was I thinking?! 

The noise coming out of the pair of them… I mean there was cackling laughter, there was “Woop Woop that’s the sound of the police” being sung over and over again, there was moaning about the eldest’s knee hurting and her knee brace not working properly. The youngest gave all the ducks on the wall ridiculous names and sang his police song to them. Loudly. The ducks hated it and quacked off dead loudly into the water. The  blackbirds shut their evensong off, and the crows cawed discordantly at the kids as if they were irritated by the cacophony too.

I breathed it all in anyway and looked at them both. Him, only 13, holding her arm for the entire walk so she won’t fall… a young carer without even knowing it. Her confident laughter on the verge of adulthood. They’re happy and they’re there for each other. As a parent of a child with Williams Syndrome and also as someone living with leukaemia it’s something I don’t dwell on,  but it’s definitely something I’m so grateful for.

I reckon sometimes me and the birds need to wind our necks in and let others sing their song instead.

The spring collection is all here now and you can get 20% OFF everything this week with the code SPRING24. Enjoy!