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To boldly go – with dad
My daughter has this thing with pretending my parents' conservatory is a rocket and every so often she tries to get us all in there to venture into space.
We all need to sit on the sofa while she takes charge on a big wicker chair, clutching a "space instruction book" and counting down to blast-off'.
Last week she decided that her passenger (aka her victim) would be my dad and she frogmarched him into the conservatory for a voyage into the unknown. Breathing a sigh of relief, my mum and I settled down to watch Loose Women, but it wasn't long before the conservatory door flew open and out came my daughter, out of breath with excitement.
Apparently, my dad had suddenly remembered a pretend rocket control panel that he made for my brother when he was six. Furthermore, he even reckoned that it was somewhere in the loft. My daughter was overcome with excitement. "Can we really blast into space, granda?" she asked. "Er no, it's just pretend," he replied. "But we can sit in it, can't we granda?" "Er no, it's not big enough for that".
"Well, it's the shape of a real space rocket, isn't it granda?" "Er no, it's more like the shape of a wooden box, but it does have buttons to shoot baddies," he replied. "Real baddies?" she asked, with hope in her eyes. "Er no," came the answer.
But even though the control panel may not have been what my daughter expected, when my dad brought it round it she was overjoyed.
There were buttons to press, lights to come on and off, and a little "window" to see stars and baddies. Considering it was made 30 years ago it was in great shape, and within minutes a corner of her bedroom had been transformed into an inter- national space station and my bed was devoid of sheets and duvet in order to make a bouncy planet.
My daughter thinks it's great, but the funniest part for me came when my dad told her quite seriously that the moment she's outgrown it, he needs to have it back as there are some electronic bits and bobs that he needs to keep. Electronic bits and bobs indeed. More likely he secretly likes to play with it himself while he is "working" in the loft.
After all, why else would it be in such remarkable working condition, 30 years after he made it? One of life's mysteries I guess.
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Weather for Kettering
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
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Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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