It struck me forcibly while helping look after our four grandchildren aged from two to eight that we, as grandparents, make some remarkable compromises in this enjoyable role. So I made a list and would love other grandparents to add to Things That Grandparents Have To Accept:
* Table manners are very subjective and, yes, fingers can do the job of forks
* Food as a hat is a clever fashion statement
* Swear words may not be generally acceptable but playing down their importance in ordinary conversation is
* Going to the toilet can be a group activity (this is a tough one)
* Searing assessment of (a) your clothes and (b) your weight are perfectly OK, however cruelly accurate
* Thomas the Tank Engine and Hannah Montana are rivetingly exciting TV and should be compulsory in everyl home
* You need to offer the same kind of enthusiastic enjoyment of your grandchildren going on the slide and then the swings at the park for the 100th time on the trot as if it were the first time
* Knock-knock jokes of dubious punchline are as hysterically funny to you as they are to your grandchildren, at every telling
* Just like a complicated, genuinely interesting tale, it takes time for a three year-old to relate absolutely nothing
* There is no point in reasoning why an eight year-old wants to wear striped leggings with a yellow floral top. If it's his choice, go with it
sticky labels on apples - remove before washing!