New Ways

We have the trusted carriers I used for his brother and his sister; the metal framed rucksack, from which he watches the ducks, pulls my hair, points at his dinner as I make it; the much worn and washed 'huggababy' ringsling in which he chats on my hip or snuggles into my chest sucking his thumb (and wriggled out of this morning to take his first steps). We haven't quite got the hang of this new Pattapum toddler carrier (or the indulgent stripy Storchenwiege I bought several months ago and cherish like a best dress). But it conjured an hour of peaceful cooking, gazing at the garden and sipping peppermint tea, after an early, busy start to the day and made me remember carrying the others so many times, off to find adventures or just gentle ways through the day's work.