the mittens of the kittens

Three little kittens, they lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
   "Oh ! Mother dear, we sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost!"

Mother Cat admonishes the kittens and punishes them by withdrawing food. The kittens find their mittens. Pie is subsequently provided. Which the kittens eat while wearing their mittens. Most likely as mother says, "take off your mittens please," then facing screeches and tantrums she lets it slide and then, annoyed at the extra washing she says,

"What!  soiled your mittens,
   You naughty kittens !"

The kttens are contrite. Their mittens are no longer cleen.

The kittens wash their mittens. Because they are very independent young kittens. "I do it," they say. And they are very proud to show off their mitten washing skills. Mother Cat is delighted.

"What ! Washed your mittens,
You darling kittens !"
   But I smell a rat close by !
   Hush, hush, hush."

Illustrations and text from Three Little Kittens, part of the My Tiny 3-D Book, Froebel-Kan, Tokoyo, 1987.

For some reason I was thinking about this book today. Maybe it's the rat in the skirting board, the one whose scratching wakes me up at night sometimes. As the cat sleeps on my feet. Perhaps it's the utter cuteness of the little cats washing their mittens, somewhat akin to the utter cuteness of watching Grace wash her dolls in the bath. Or something to do with feeling unconnected to the washing? G asked me tonight if I thought he should do the sheets tommorrow. I said yes, of course, but really I hadn't even been thinking about it. I used to have the washing in my head the whole time. Now I don't, except in books. Strange.