Wednesday, April 30, 2008

THE GOOD-TEMPERED DADDY

hannah's topic at school this week is minibeasts
ha!
minibeasts for little beasts!
today she comes home
carrying the fruits of her labours
a hat with a ladybird attached to the front
bouncing comically up and down
a ladybird with wings that swivel
a coloured-in life cycle chart of a butterfly...
as it happens
the sack she brings home this week
from after-school story club
is also insect-themed
so when i pull out the bad-tempered ladybird story
to read at bedtime
hannah tells me excitedly
'i already knows this one
cos mrs o'hara read it to us in class'
each page of the story has a clockface
with a different time on it
i help hannah to distinguish the little hand from the big hand
'it's six o'hara o'clock!' laughs h
the bad-tempered ladybird has a repetitive refrain
which hannah has off pat
and amazingly the clever little thing's reading the story to me
rather than the other way round
'it's like doing my reading book, isn't it daddy' hannah giggles
proud of herself
it's times like these
that being a dad repays itself
in spades

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