Holly's blog, It's A Mummy's Life, is refreshingly honest. She published this post on Thursday 25 November...
It started a week or so ago when I simply couldn't bear to read another Charlie and Lola or Fireman Sam story and she'd gone off all the ones I like (well she'd gone off Farmer Duck which is my favourite). So as any guilt induced Mummy would do I made up a story for her instead. Sort of.
When I say 'made up' I mean I told her a story using Ben and Holly for want of any other ideas. But I got the names of the little twin sisters wrong and she corrected me. I should have known then that I had set a bad precedent.
She asked me tonight if I'd read her 'one of my stories'.
"What one I make up?"
"Yes the one you make up."
"Right ok. Well once upon a time.....they saw a lovely cottage in the forest made out of chocolate....(inspiration from Hansel and Gretel there)...biscuits for windows......marshmallow for chimney....blah blah...
"No Mummy! Not marshmallow. Banana cake!"
"Really? Oh right, yes of course. So it had banana cake for a chimney...went inside....witch with a green face...."
"What's her name Mummy?"
"Er..Mildred. Mildred Witch. She's a bit smelly."
"Not Mildred Mummy! Witch called Wendy."
"Oh yes, Wendy Witch, of course, silly of me. So anyway...blah blah"
We made it to the end with several more corrections. The problem is she has a young memory and mine is aged and withered and on its last legs. I can't remember what I had for breakfast much less the finite details of the made up story I told her a week ago. I think I had an inkling of how my Aunt must have felt every time we (my 2 sisters, my cousin and I) asked her to tell us a 'Mary Fairy' story when we were little. My aunt, uncle and cousin would stay with us a lot when I was little and she really did, does still, have the best imagination for storytelling. She made up these wonderful stories about this character that we just couldn't get enough of, we were enchanted.
She anyway back to tonight. Eliza then told me her made up story. Which went a bit like this.
"Once upon a time there was a King and Queen and Princess 'Liza and there was a cupboard but it didn't have a friend so it was sad. And then the light switched off and...and....and....the end!"
"Brilliant darling, what a lovely story."
It's possible that JK Rowling has nothing to worry about.
Read more of Holly's brilliant blog, It's a Mummy's Life here.
See moreBack to All Best Blogs articles
