Family Natters

Last year when Tom was 5, I put him in charge of giving out sweets to the trick-or-treaters who knocked on our door. He seemed to enjoy it and I liked not having to answer the door every 5 minutes, so we were both happy. Until I happened to catch sight of what he was doing, that is.

I had put a pile of twixes, flakes, aeros and chewits in an old Roses tin, with the idea that the children would select one a piece. What I hadn’t foreseen was that Tom would take out the twixes, flakes and aeros because they were his favourites, then just give each child who came by one chewit each. And he’d been doing it all night, to everyone who had knocked on the door!

I think this year I’ll have to be in charge of the sweet tin myself, don’t you.

Tom and I were reading a book about how meat was cooked years ago using a spit. There was a picture of a woman turning the handle to cook the meat evenly.

“I’ve done that,” I told him.

“Really?” he said, his eyes as big as saucers. “Someone tied you to that stick, and turned you over a fire?”

Yesterday Tom offered to help me unpack the shopping. I should have smelled a rat straight away, but it wasn’t until I started finding used lolly sticks all over the house, that I realised he’d had an ulterior motive. This is a list of the places I’ve found them so far:

• on the wash basin

• in his trouser pocket

• stuck to the sofa cushion (then on my bum of course)

• behind the sofa (yes, I thought you’d be surprised I found that one given my cleaning habits)

PHOTO AB’s HAIR

in hindsight he probably went a bit crazy at having the unaccustomed access (usually I hide them then dish them out one by one). I’ll have to be a responsible parent though and talk to him about healthy eating. I’ll tell him for his own good we’ll go back to me being in charge of them.

Have your kids ever done anything similar?

In August 1960 dogs Belka and Strelka were sent into space in Sputnik 5 to orbit the Earth.
I was telling Tom about this and how other dogs had been put into rockets and spent into space.
“But why?” he asked. “They can’t hold the steering wheel.”

“Do we still have to pay those men money?” Tom asked today as I was tucking him in bed.
“What men?”
“You know… for the lights and the water.”
It took me a few moments to realise he was asking about paying the bills.
How have your kids made you smile today?

Tom was telling me the names of Santa’s reindeer. “Prancer and Dancer, Vixen and Blitzen, Cupid and … Stupid,” he said.