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The Unbirthday Present
Ever since I can remember, my family have practised the fine art of Unbirthday Presents. For each child who has a birthday, all siblings receive a small token of the household’s appreciation too....
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Homecoming: doing the washing
It is always the way when you get home from a really good trip abroad that the dirty washing must be laundered. Yes: while we at Kate Shrewsday have been languishing in dreamy glass-clad minimalist...
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The Cake: A Big Al Story
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...
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An Afternoon Convalescing
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...
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Flappy The Bat: A Big Al Story
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...
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1001 things to do with red paint: a portrait of the artist as a very young man
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...
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Christmas Day Incognito
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...
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Hiding
Image via karmaclothing.co.uk 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,...
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Hurtling downhill without a plan
Picture: paddingtonbear.com 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...
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Big Al and the Cucumber Cat
Pic from Christina of cat-about-town.blogspot.co.uk 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...
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1001: An Al Odyssey
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....
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Harry Potter and the Monastery of Mystery: A Big Al Story
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...
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The Colours of the rainbow: Big Al’s sports day
I arrived lugging a large picnic for seven and a garden chair. I have learnt my lesson. Many’s the year I sat cramped and cross-legged on picnic blankets craning to watch my son’s performance. No: you...
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The Outside Toylet: A Big Al Story
It is some time since our toilet went south. Not very south. But far enough away to have been isolated from all water supply, indeed, from the very wall against which it was accustomed to lean. I well...
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The Cowboy Hat: A Big Al Story
The small boy planted his feet firmly in font of me. “Auntie Kate, I need my Woody hat. I’m not going for a walk without my Woody hat.” Gulp. A lot has changed in my house since the Summer...
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The Excalibur Box: A Big Al Story
“Well – has Felix opened his present yet?” My mother grinned expectantly, and I realised Felix was at the epicentre of a Christmas Day maelstrøm, with satellites of all heights and ages flying around...
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Putting The Blossom Back On The Trees: A Big Al Story
The plan had been to go to the garden centre. “I’ll buy some flowers for the garden, Al, and you can buy something to put in the garden too.” My diminutive six year old nephew looked unimpressed....
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Big Al and The Siren Racetrack
Sports Day. Again! How do these schools events come round so quickly? Al, my effervescent six-year-old nephew, has just faced his second, whilst my son Felix, who cheered his small cousin along all...
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Saying Thank You: A Big Al Story
I seem to remember reporting solemnly on the events of Big Al’s third birthday on this very blog. Well: this September ushered in his seventh. Life is insanely busy and it was not until 6:30pm on a...
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The Jellyfish
There was an air of solemn contemplation as we all stared down at it. A formless, transparent, spineless, once sentient being lodged unceremoniously on the beach by a merciless sea. “Is it dead?” Al...
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