A Squash and A Squeeze

Have you read it? A Squash and A Squeeze, by Julia Donaldson.  Get it now. Borrow it, read it. Your kids will will enjoy the illustrations and story.   And you will be reminded of this book and the story and the wise old man, just when you think you cannot take the chaos of a kitchen renovation any more. And being reminded of this story will bring you solace...

... and that last bit of patience required to ignore the fridge and the oven and the stove, and cabinet, the 13 boxes of tile and a bag of grout that resides in half of the already small living room.  Letting eyes scan the heaps of kitchen appliances and then glancing up to the half filled frames on the mantel. Half filled because I can no longer reach them to continue the little mantel project. And then scan higher up the chimney and, reading the sideways sign "LAUGH" ... well LAUGH. And I do.

The book will remind me that my scattered kitchen belongings do have a space. This large empty space. And very soon. very.very.soon. I will reclaim my other living spaces.  While  freshly baked smells coming from the new oven waft to the other rooms ... where we are dining and rejoicing at the dining room table and playing games and giggling all over the living room floor, the chaos long forgotten.

Julia Donaldson's story is about an old woman who thought her house was too tiny. A wise old man advised her to bring her pig into her house. Very peculiar she thought. That wasn't enough, so wise old man advised her to bring in her cow and her chicken and her goat... We have enjoyed reading all of her books, over and over again.