Woof! possesses magical powers; he seems to be able to calm the nine year old down in a way none of the rest of us can.
My rascal is all over the place at the moment, bouncing from sweet to sour at breathtaking speed. And not so much of the sweet since school started. But a moment or two with Woof! somehow helps him snap out of it. You can almost see the anger ebb away.
Heaven help us when he eventually loses interest; makes me feel sad thinking about it. But no sign of that happening yet - in fact Woof! has a growing band of merry followers who go everywhere with him.
My husband has started making up stories about this motley crew, and they're obviously good because I often hear howls of laughter coming from the 9 year old's room. So, next to Woof! we have Snuggly Duck, Duck - grey, worn and well chewed - her french name is Snoogalay Canard, Canard and she is trouble basically; then there's Aussie Bruce, the narcoleptic rabbit who never finishes his sentences, and his painfully shy second cousin Oscar.
All it takes is a story and a sniff of Snuggly or Woof and life is good again.
Wouldn't that be great?
The Gallery theme this week is Happy!