What brings back the colour to your world?

2.29am

I'm supposed to be on vacation. After so so so many months of being under "house arrest" due to my "promotion" to motherhood, I finally got a vacation.

And here I am sleepless. Because I keep waking up, finding little dude's legs on my face, on my chest, his head on my stomach, et cetera, et cetera. Tsk, tsk. Toddlers have no sense of space when they sleep.

So I start dreaming of my previous life sans a kid, and for a moment, doubted the sanity of my choice to have one. On the surface, it seems that I have lost much. Freedom to do as I pleased, freedom to read... blah, blah blah...

Then, I decided that I was wrong.

The husband and I brought little dude to the beach today. Honestly, the beach doesn't excite me anymore. I've been there and done that too many times. But strangely, very strangely, it was pure bliss today to see little dude playing with sand, waddling on the beach like a duckling, squealing at sand on his arms and feet. I noticed too, that his delight was infectious and many passer-bys stopped for a brief moment to smile.

And so, I saw the light.

Age would start to wash off the colour from my world, like how being on the beach doesn't excite me anymore. Like how seeing birds flying in the sky doesn't make me stare in wonder anymore. Slowly, bit by bit, age would make me immune to many things which have once brought me joy, laughter, wonder, and awe.

But little dude brings it all back. He was me, 20 months old, squealing and laughing on the beach, infecting others with my joy. He was me, fascinated by the rolling waves on the beach, yelping when it washes up my feet. He was me, standing in front of a brightly coloured peacock larger than himself, oh so excited going "PEE-TOK!! PEE-TOK!!!".

So I decided, no. Life is not better without little dude.

What brings back the colour to your world?