Almost Perfect

There are some moments as a parent that I couldn't possibly make up, and If I'm honest, I wouldn't actually want to. Yesterday held one such moment.

We had just enjoyed a spontaneous early evening swim in the ocean, which was just as wonderful as it sounds-that precious combination of a balmy evening and a beautiful Donegal beach just couldn't be wasted so off we went- Himself, myself and four of the kids, a blanket, a towel and two spades between us.

And having read this and having done this , I was determined not to let my jelly belly and wobbly thighs get in the way of a frolic in the sea with the children. So I braced myself and stripped off and after the first few excruciating moments it was fine, and we played and splashed and swam and dunked.
Then after a wee while, it was time to go - toddlers still get tired and boys still start bickering, even on the most gorgeous of evenings, and very quickly the perfect moment had passed and it all became a 'Right! Let's get this feckin' show on the road, ASAP'.

 I was just drying off a whinging Luke when Rory suddenly stopped mindlessly kicking sand over the blanket, stared transfixed at Luke's tummy, and declared 'Woah! what's that horrible stuff coming out of his belly button?'

 I looked down swiftly, at a belly button that certainly appeared to be oozing something green. Dear God, had he contracted some kind of gross belly button infection that I'd somehow missed? Should we bring him to hospital right now? Would he need an antibiotic?

 Meanwhile,  Rory was now kneeling down and examining Luke's belly button with fascinated interest, before nodding slowly and delivering his verdict,
 'It's okay, don't worry, it's just snot! He's got bogers in his belly button! Then he added delightedly  'Ugh yuck, that's disgusting!'

As I calmly wiped the offending belly button with our communal towel, I simply felt relief that no
trip to the after hours trip doctor was required, while Luke beamed proudly as the tale of the gross belly button was relived with relish all the way back to the Caravilla.