Gothic is favourite, even with five-year-olds, it seems. My five-year old nephew, Big Al, knows what he likes and likes what he knows. Little boys don’t like bracing country walks: they get tired and bored half way through and need finessing all the way home. Little boys love soft play centres, but it is rather frenetic for … Continue reading »
Yesterday was my thousandth post. That’s a lot of posts. So I’m celebrating my embarcation on my second thousand by bringing you the very first post ever devoted to this blog’s most infamous character. I speak, naturally, of Big Al. This morning, my eyes popped wide open and I realised that, subconsciously, I was already … Continue reading »
The small blonde boy beamed beatifically at me as I brandished his snack. I was a little out of breath. Mainly because with four minutes to go, I had locked myself out of my house in which were my car keys, and had unwisely chosen my husbands decrepit old bike, a gearless brakeless wonder on … Continue reading »
Juggling two jobs and a busy weekend hath made me mad. I am distracted, and though the bulk of what I do is done well, there are moments when, were you to watch me, you would think I might be in need of medication or, at the very least, a little light counselling. This afternoon … Continue reading »
I am sure that by now you will have met the infamous onesie. I call them grotesque. One-piece jumpsuits, they are used not just for indoor leisurewear but, on occasion, for outer wear. To one who has lived through the eighties’ jumpsuit, a onesie is a little too close for comfort. Onesies have passed our … Continue reading »
The day before Christmas we were tidying up. We had ventured underneath the stairs. This is not advisable normally. Underneath the stairs consists of shelves and coat hooks and what would once have been a large airy space. But in a family with the size, organisational strategies, and animals of the Shrewsday family, it develops … Continue reading »
The house was full to bursting with experimental children. That is all very well if those children are over five. Children over five know about cause and effect, more or less. But there was one conspicuous absence in the main body of activity: my diminutive nephew, Big Al. Big Al has just turned five. His … Continue reading »
Of course, Hallowe’en belonged to Big Al. It grew dark by five today. The last streaks of the pale grey light slipped away, leaving a wet town with an air of expectation. Not every house was decorated: but our estate had its share of houses festooned with elaborate stage-cobwebs and severed limbs. I don’t know … Continue reading »
I arrived at school at 11:45, ready for Al’s midday meal. My five-year-old nephew would trail in with all the other pint-size Reception Class to the big resounding school hall, grey school trousers bagging like Charlie Chaplin, and unzip his packed lunch box, and munch his lunch. But first, he needed a puff. He was … Continue reading »
Friday is repost day: here’s one of my favourites about my three year old nephew, Big Al, in the days when he still went to little school. I knocked on the door of Big Al’s nursery. It swung open onto another world: a word of happy, slightly over-excited people under the age of four. Most … Continue reading »
