Do you know why I love spending time with my nieces and nephews (aside from the fact that I love them to bits and they give life-enhancing hugs?)
It’s because if you spend time with children – watch them jump and dance and sing – pretty soon your inner child will be itching to join in too.
Kids are grand masters of joyful, exuberant play.
And their expertise in everyday playfulness can’t help but rub off on you.
Case in point: A few months ago, two of my nieces came to stay. After supper and a DVD, we sat on the floor and played a game which involved calling words out as fast as possible.
I can’t remember the name of the game, but I do remember lots of shouting and laughter!
In our excitement, one of us mispronounced a word and blurted out “SHMOOOOO!!” This prompted an interesting discussion. What sort of creature is a shmoo? And what do they look like exactly?
None of us could agree. So we each drew one.
You may already know what a shmoo looks like, but they are quite rare, so just in case…
First up is Holly’s shmoo. Here we see Shmoo Senior and Shmoo Junior out for an afternoon stroll. Awww…
Of course, many shmoos are very in touch with their feminine side. Here, for example, is Shmooetta, Amelia’s shmoo…
As for the adults, James drew a New Age shmoo. As we all know, this particular type of shmoo has many legs…
And finally, here is my shmoo (schmoo?), looking exactly how I was feeling at this precise moment in time – like a carefree, happy kid again!
“We play because we have an exuberance of spirits and energy, but we are also exuberant because we play.”
Kay Redfield Jamison
Katherine Bassford 
Wonderful post Katherine. And what a wonderful creature the schmoo is, however it is drawn. I’ve never seen one, because as you say they are very rare but they seem friendly enough.
Being among children can be inspirational as a writer, because after all who knows better than what children want to read about than children themselves.
Maybe one day I will be able to learn more about the schmoo. Over to you Katherine. Take care and thanks once again for a lovely post.
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What a lovely comment, thanks Phil. Interestingly, I was going to write a different post yesterday – something I thought I ‘should’ write – but it wasn’t feeling right so I went with my heart and wrote something playful instead, just for the heck of it. I think I’ll do that more often from now on. Much more fun. Glad you liked it!
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Lovely Post.
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