So, the great de-clutter is going extremely well. The "beautiful or useful" maxim has been applied in all areas of the house, and there are large plastic bags heading to the charity shop on a weekly basis. However, once every few weeks, my resolve is weakened thanks to the latest arrival from those all-time purveyors of books and evil, The Book People.
Who could resist The Dr Who Character Encyclopedia for only £4.99? Not me. Or either of my children, it would appear. I got a couple of other books too (obv, or you have to pay postage!), but this was *the one*. They seemed particularly fascinated by the pages about Doctors 1-10. They were most displeased that I didn't seem to have any memories of Doctors 1-4. I pleaded ignorance based on the fact that I was either not born, or extremely young when these Doctors were on-screen, but this did not seem to cut any ice. I was pumped for information about Doctors 5-10, and was admonished for the sketchiness of my responses. I felt somewhat sorry for myself, since I felt I had done a relatively good job to recall not only the names of most of their assistants, but comments about their dress sense and accents.
They read the book quietly together for a time, but C became impatient with A's desire to actually read the words rather than just looking at the pictures, and a dispute broke out. In the end I was forced to set a timer and give them allocated time with the book. There was much binding in the marsh, as my lovely Dad would say.
This morning, of course, they both wanted to watch mindless TV, and the book lay abandoned on the bedroom floor. Neither child seems to realise that this state of affairs absolutely guarantees that they will never, ever get a TV in their bedroom.
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