Good gravy!!

I had a couple of topics which I wanted to refer to today. I wanted to describe the golf ball sized lump on Joseph's forehead following an "incident" in the playground which no member of staff saw. I wanted to try and explain how it felt sneaking out on him at breakfast club this morning as I knew he was gearing up to be upset. I even wanted to squeeze in a piece about how, throughout this period of upheaval for Poops, Annabel is soldiering on at nursery quite happily, even on her extra day.

That was until I stumbled across this (see pic) while Googling an image for todays entry. I'm still so excited I have to write in capital letters.

"THE COMPLETE CALVIN AND HOBBES"

Oh lawdy, what to do, I cannot believe it! After being an avid reader of Calvin and Hobbes for the past 10 years and collecting, bit by bit, all 16 of the official compilation books, to see them compiled into 3 hardback books is, well, words fail me. Before you judge though, Calvin and Hobbes is no more a mere cartoon strip for children than is The Simpsons.

The incredible thing about this 6 year old boy and his stuffed tiger, is that they clearly reminded me of what it is to be a child again. Ironic really, after my entry for yesterday, halcyon days and all that.

Before I had even become a father, the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips had genuinely allowed me to step back in time, allowed me to glimpse once more through the eyes of a 6 year old, albeit a naughty but also often misunderstood 6 year old.

How good were those long summer days? Or waking up and realising it's Saturday - no school AND there are cartoons on tv; all morning! Or pulling back the curtains to see that it had snowed heavily all night. Friendships, making a tree house, stuck in a boring class, stockpiling snowballs, teachers you don't like, the end of school bell ..... the list goes on.

If you fancy a different perspective on things or if you're about to become a parent or if you are a parent to young children, then get yourself one of the compilations, test the water, and when you're totally hooked, get this hardback edition of every official published strip there there ever was.

You'll thank me. Honest.

I alluded to the author Bill Watterson at the end of my very first blog entry.

It is indeed a magical world.