Usually when I feel compelled to join in with the Reasons to be Cheerful linky over at Mummy from the Heart, it’s because I’ve had some big news that I’m happy about.

That’s not really the case this week; it’s just that I’ve had a lovely couple of days, filled with small, special moments that I don’t want to forget.

DorkyDad has just arrived home after a two-day work conference, and as I type I can hear him and DorkySon giggling away. They are cuddled up, reading a book and catching up on each other’s news. I will never grow tired of seeing the two of them reunited after an absence.

DorkySon had a haircut yesterday. He was very polite, and did not squeal too loudly when the hairs tickled his nose, so I bought him a Fireman Sam Sticker Book on the way home. It was a sunny day, so we sat on a bench in the park to read it… but it was hard to concentrate over the noise of a gardener with a chainsaw, tidying up a nearby tree, so eventually we just gave up and watched him instead.

After lunch, and a nap, we headed out with DorkySon’s scooter, which he is slowly getting the hang of. We spent another hour or so practicing in the park, before heading along to his nursery for Parents Evening – his first ever. How proud I was to hear that I have a happy, confident little boy, who spends most of his days singing. I am proud, too, that he can almost write his own name, that he is kind, that he likes to paint. He is a fast-developing personality, becoming more independent of me all the time.

We were too early for dinner, so we went to a shop in town, and DorkySon helped me choose some gifts for a friend who has recently had a baby. Then we headed for the playground, where he ran, as he always does, straight for the swings. He likes to test all of them out, before settling on one where he will swing high and happy for as long as I will push him.

“You are the best Mummy in the world, and I wish that we could stay at the swings all day,” he said.

But we couldn’t. We had to end our pretty-much-perfect day with pizza and chocolate cake at a nearby café. We sat outside, so that we could watch the cars and trucks going by. Just as we were finishing, it started to rain, quite lightly.

Then it started to rain really heavily. I was in a summer dress and flipflops. DorkySon was in shorts and a t-shirt.

“Let’s just go for it Mummy,” he said.

So we did. He hopped on his scooter and I pulled him all the way along the High Street through the puddles, both of us getting drenched. A sweet boy in school uniform offered us an umbrella, but I had no spare hands.

“Wheeee,” shouted DorkySon. “I love the rain!”

We came home to a hot bath, and we were both in bed by 8pm.

Sometimes the simplest days give me the most to be cheerful about, and yesterday was one of them. I feel so lucky.

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