PRINCE / PRINCESS

Oscar's pre-school group held a Royal Wedding party and each child was asked to dress as a prince or a princess - perhaps because the word was longer and therefore probably more important, Oscar said he wanted to be a princess. His dad made a crown and placed it on his head telling him that he was now a prince. "No, princess" said Oscar. Eventually the matter was resolved by them both deciding that he could be a king.

Over Sunday dinner I was talking to my mother about housekeeping, what I used to spend and what I spend now. Oscar's dad said: "What's housekeeping?" I could hardly believe my ears. Did he not realise that for the 20-odd years he lived at home I worked to a budget and that every one of his three-course meals came out of it? Apparently not, because when I explained the concept he said that he thought it was a bit quaint and old-fashioned.
When his brother was home over Easter I laughingly told him about this episode, expecting him to laugh with me. "What is housekeeping?" he asked. I explained once again. "It sounds quite sensible" he said. This left me wondering what young couples do these days if there are no financial boundaries in place. It also left me wondering whether they had ever noticed that for most of their lives they ate steak at the beginning of the month and shepherd's pie at the end. Probably not!