The thing is we've had a bit of a revelation here this week and I thought it might be worth sharing. It's not a new idea really, I'm pretty sure Julia Donaldson's book 'A Squash and A Squeeze' follows the same premise, and I'm fairly certain her idea came from the big man Aesop, he of many fables.
So what am I talking about?
Well for quite awhile now my kids have been moaning about our (perfectly fine) car. It's either too old, too dirty, the wrong colour, or some other defect that doesn't really count in the world of grown ups and cars, and not having 6 grand in your back pocket to upgrade any time soon.
This week said car had to go in to the garage in order to fix some of the broken stuff - timing belt (yes), water pump (yes), boot that won't stay open so hits you in the back when you forget (no), strange loss of back windscreen wiper (no), funny engine light thing that keeps coming on and blinking at me (yes), brakes (I really hope so).
So our car got dropped off and a courtesy car was arranged as a replacement. 'I hope it's like that one!' says the 7 year old pointing out a Merc on the way to school. 'I hope it's like that one!' says the 9 year old to the passing jeep. 'I hope it's really, really fast!' says the 5 year old.
'Well we'll have to wait and see, but I'll be picking you up from school in it so you'll get a go in it then'
And off they went.
Only to return 7 hours later to this:
Oh how I laughed!
Once I had stopped hyperventilating from driving a bucket of shit as my first left hand drive experience that is.
The 9 year old hid in the bushes with her hood up until the coast was clear. 'Oh my God, I am not getting in that!' To be fair it was practically the same reaction as I had when I first saw it.
What they didn't realise was that they were lucky to be picked up at all. The piece of crap cut out if you had to come to a stop, so I had a few dodgy roundabouts and red lights to deal with on my way to get them. I felt a bit like Fr. Dougal on the milk float...
'I wish we had that car' said the 7 year old pointing to an old Ford on the way home. 'I wish we had that car' said the 9 year old as a Toyota passed us. 'I wish we had any car except this one' said the 5 year old glumly.
I smiled as the line of cars behind me got longer and longer. 'Well we'll have our own car back tomorrow' I said.
'Yessss! I can't wait. I love our car' they sang in unison, or tried to at least, it was pretty squashed back there.
So, that's the moral of the story. Take away all their good shit, give them really bad shit, then give them back the good shit.
Here endeth today's lesson.
