Never, ever again

Life is essentially ruled by a never ending series of foolhardy decisions. Boris Johnsons parents not using protection. The record company A&R man who signed Miley Cyrus. Suffragettes losing their lives, their freedom, for a future society unappreciative and barely aware of what they sacrificed and why.

But none more foolhardy than our decision to allow two of Luca's friends to sleep over last Saturday night.

In retrospect it seemed a feasible idea. Luca had never had friends over before, and as an only child we've always been very conscious of the need to keep him active and stimulated to ensure he never becomes lonely. Games, toys, activities, sport, reading, running, walking, play parks, zoos, cinemas, etc, etc are all hugely important aspects of his life, yet socialising with his peers outside of school/nursery has rarely played a part and consequently has always caused a little consternation.

Consternation shmonsternation. It was hell. His friends, Tyler and Ethan (Ethan is the unfamiliar sleeping figure above) are nice kids, but three 5 year olds surrounded by toys and computer games, fuelled by copious volumes of chocolate, juice and the exuberance of youth is a deadly combination. Naively we expected the trials to end at bedtime. They didn't. It transpires other children don't settle down to sleep as quickly as Luca. Who knew?

A late night and a fitful sleep later, we took mini Hitler, mini Satan and mini Pol Pot to the cinema for a morning screening of "The Muppets". Yes, they've made another Muppets film almost a generation after the last. I enjoyed it, as it was very obviously scripted with the intention of wooing the 30-something's for whom The Muppets were an integral part of their childhood. However, it wasn't quite child-centric enough for the boys who wriggled, giggled and fiddled throughout. Luca's review afterward was the most succinct - "I wanted to see Star Wars".

This week has brought a little respite from the short chap, as he spent a few days staying with Granny and Granda during the school holidays. As grateful as we were for the assist it was terrific to get him home on Wednesday. I picked him up from Banchory after work and ran him home, making a detour into the Chinese takeaway on route. As I turned my back to pay he disappeared through the back of the takeaway to the upstairs restaurant, the only evidence of his presence being the thunder of his hooves as he hurtled round the tables. He suddenly appeared again, leaping down a flight of stairs in a single bound before casually announcing "How cool am I?"

Very

**Useless fact of the day - Tigers not only have striped fur, they also have striped skin**