Arthur or Martha?

Way, way, way before I was even thinking about becoming a parent, it would often be a great sense of amusement to hear my brother stomp up the stairs, pausing at the top only long enough to shout out "I hate your guts", to whoever it was that he was angry with.

Looking back, I don’t know why we found it funny really.

a) It’s not a nice thing to say and

b) What’s so funny about a child getting so mad he shouts out something like that anyway?

Similarly, Joseph has a new way of expressing his anger and distaste and, of course, I find it funny. This morning, for reasons unknown to me, M bought him a magazine she’d promised him. As she handed it over to him, he went as stiff as a board, stood on tiptoe and announced that today was "the best day of my life" and then did a little jig.

How is that not funny?

Approximately five minutes later however, his attention had shifted from his magazine to his DS Lite console and unfortunately, the battery went dead. The lid was slammed closed and he stood up from the table, clearly forgetting how rosy his day had looked only moments before and screamed that this was now the "worst day of my entire life".

His entire life mind, all six and a bit years of it.

After I had explained the miracle of ‘using while charging’, he was happily sat next to the plug socket, concentrating intently on the 400m hurdles and, somewhat incredibly, he managed a new world record.

Yep, you’ve guessed it.

Once again, it was the 'best day of his life'.

Entirely.