Ask Nicely

As any parent will recognise, it can be fascinating watching a child grow and mature.  While the physical attributes are the most apparent, it is often the brief glimpses of the evolution of their character that are more rewarding.  With Angus approaching his seventh birthday, it is the latter that we are starting to notice much more.  Most recently he has become more aware of the benefit of being helpful.  Well, more appropriately, he has become more aware of the rewards from being helpful.

His daily ritual now starts by getting dressed of his own accord before heading downstairs to empty the dishwasher.  We were quite struck by this the first time it happened, although within a matter of days he had started to understand that our appreciation could be converted to his benefit.  Which now means that this daily ritual is paid for in his common currency of Match Attax.

In an attempt to restore the balance of power in our favour, we have extended the level of services required for the aforementioned payment.  This wasn't difficult.  Following a typical boy's report at his recent parent's evening, we have encouraged him to improve his writing in return for the Match Attax.

Having already emptied the dishwasher, I left him last Thursday morning sat at the table with a sheet of paper in front of him on which I had written - in my best primary teacher's writing - "I emptied the dishwasher and got a packet of Match Attax"  His instructions we quite clear: if he copied the sentence in nice, neat, straight writing, he would get his payment.

When I returned I was greated by a wide grin and an oustretched arm proudly presenting me with his finest work.  I was impressed.  I was impressed because he'd kept all his letters to their appropriate size.  I was impressed because he managed to keep it all in a nice neat straight line.  However, what impressed me most was that he had strategically inserted the number '2' before 'Match Attax', so that his revised version read "I emptied the dishwasher and got a 2 packets of Match Attax".  Ok, a slight gramatical error, but otherwise clever.  No wonder he was so proud.  Needless to say he got his "a 2 packets of Match Attax"

And for the cause of EuroChampsChallenge we're adopting a similar approach: Make sure everything is kept to the appropriate size and scale and is then presented in a neat and tidy way with a big smile and lots of enthusiasm.  That way our mistakes will be forgiven and we might even manage to get that little bit more.

Advice From a Five Year Old.

The advent of Halloween season once more brings to the fore the question of how to decorate the pumpkins.  We're now getting close to a time when Angus and Martha will be carving their own, but to date we've adopted the novel approach of trying to represent their requests through my very questionable artistic skills.  This year we had B.A. Baracus and Tinkerbell, whereas last year it was The A Team van and Peppa Pig.  Prior to this it was much easier - ghosts, scary faces, witches and the like.  But this is because prior to last year Angus and I had not had a chat.

It was late October and we'd collected the Pumkins from the Granddads’ gardens (there's a story for another day).  The discussion started and while I expected the usual response, Martha said she wanted Peppa Pig.  So, rather than suggest that this was a little off-message and that she should consider something a bit more conventional, I thought that the straightforward linear form of a two-dimensional Peppa Pig would be relatively easy to translate onto a pumpkin.  But more than this, I thought that this would be something which she would just love. 

So I agreed.  "That's a great idea, Martha. You can have Peppa Pig on your pumpkin."

"What about you Angus?  What do you want on yours?"

"The A Team Van".

In simplistic terms, The A Team van is an instantly recognisable black van with a red stripe along the side.  Making it instantly recognisable carved on the side of a pumpkin, and in particular trying to replicate the red stripe, is not - in any sense - an easy task.  I shared this view with Angus.

"Aw but Martha's getting Peppa Pig and my favourite thing is the A Team van so why can’t I get that on my pumpkin?"

"Look, Angus.  It's just too difficult.  You can't have the A Team van because it would be too hard to carve it out and it wouldn't look right"

Now, at the point in time this discussion is going on I am a parent of five-and-a-half years experience.  As a result, I am fully aware that this emphatic statement would be open for further challenge and debate.  I am also clear that I will shortly divert the discussion in favour of something a little easier to carve.  What I did not anticipate, however, was what came next:

"How can you say it's too difficult when you've not even tried?"

"Sorry?"  I had heard him quite clearly, however I just hadn't expected a measured response from a five year old boy.

"How can you say it's too hard when you've not given it a go.  You always say to me that I can only say something is too difficult once I've tried it, and I'm not allowed to give up before I start…"

"Ehh…"

"So if you haven't started then you can't say it's too difficult"

And that's how I came to carve The A Team van onto the side of a pumpkin.  It is also, in no small measure, how I came to turning The EuroChampsChallenge from a daft idea into reality.