Q is for querer: to want or to love.
Te quiero: I love you.
I wanted to write about love today because for some reason I was writing about laziness on the day that the letter L came up. And when I thought of love, the first thing that came to mind was of cuddling up with Bibsey in bed in the morning. She has become quite a good little sleeper recently, sleeping through until around 7am most mornings when Mr B or I bring her into our bed for another hour or so. We snooze and cuddle. And we sleep. She really isn’t the fidget-arse that she used to be and the clocks going forward has made a big difference.
When I thought of love, that is what I thought of. But now it comes to putting it into words, I am finding it very hard. Perhaps it’s just that I don’t want to express it badly or get over-sentimental… so I have been in search of an image that might better convey the feeling. A feeling that is a sweet smell, soft and pink, and clean and warm. And so right. Here is Klimt’s Mother and Child.
I was also drawn to this incredibly striking Mother and Child, by artist Stephen Cefalo, which portrays a different moment in the experience of motherhood. And one I think that we all recognise only too well. Baby in milk-induced slumber. Mother with a thousand yard stare.
It’s beautiful isn’t it? But what is she thinking? It could be anything from “Nobody told me it was going to be this hard. Get me out of here” to “Will I ever be able to have a long hot bath again?”
