When the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

If you ever feel down, or in a bad mood, or like the world is going to hell in a handbasket, then a kid can brighten the day.

The thing is; they don’t care!

They know nothing, they have few needs, they have no sense of guilt - consequently they have a burden-free attitude to life, and that is infectious. Not any old kid will do. They have to be under about 10, depending on their mental and emotional maturity.

Or maybe 8; kids grow up so fast these days. Or 5 even. But preferably a baby or toddler, if possible.

You need a basically happy one, well fed and not tired, hopefully with a sense of humour. They will play peek-a-boo whether you want to or not, they will emit great belches and laugh, they will splash in puddles without worrying about whether they have clean dry socks in the drawer or not. They will share their last bit of chocolate, all you have to do is open your mouth and they shove it in. They have not realised that when it’s gone, it’s gone. They are liberated. They are free….

I can tell you, I’ve had a kid or two or three to keep my nostrils above the water. They are just fun. Yes I know they cry, and vomit and produce diarrhoea in the supermarket. But it’s not their fault. How can you keep a straight face when you have a row of little kids on the sofa laughing at their toes? Or a toddler, seeing you are miserable, will force the corners of your mouth up with their index fingers to make you smile. And you do.

My kids have kept me sane. Or have they warped my sense of humour? I never can tell. They seem to love me whether I am sane or not, ridiculous or not.

Toddlers don’t need you to put your makeup on for them to think you are beautiful. They don’t notice if you haven’t lost the ‘baby weight’ or have been a stone over weight for the last year. They just want you to hug them and read them bedtime stories. To put plasters on their grazed knee and to think they are brave for swinging so high at the play park. To put bubbles in their bath and tuck them into a warm bed. To put honey on their crumpets and cut up their toast.

And I can’t help thinking of all the Mums in this world that can’t do that. Who can’t keep their babies safe, clean and well-fed. Whether they are homeless single Mums surviving in hostels in the UK, asylum seekers in squalid camps, or battled scarred and frightened in areas of conflict. There are thousands of Mums who yearn to make the lives of their kids more tolerable; yet even here the brightness of their kids’ smiles on a good day will light up their world.

Let’s not take our kids for granted. We owe them a great deal.

Saggy