Let’s do this together

I’ve been in delicate negotiations with The Dark Lord to get her to come on a family walk at the weekends with me and the dog.

Now that my daughter spends so much time in her bedroom, it’s the only way I’ll get to remember what she looks like.

“I’ll let you miss one evening of after-school clubs if you’ll come on a nice long walk,” I tried to bargain with her, although I know from experience it would be easier negotiating with the Taliban.

“What do you mean by ‘long walk’?” she asked me, warily.

“Longer than a quick walk but not as long as your aunties’ walks,” I replied, knowing her horror of being made to go on endless yomps.

“There was one time they took me out to ‘get some fresh air’ and we were out so long, we had to stop for both lunch and dinner!”

She shuddered at the memory.

“No, this time we’ll go for an hour’s walk and see Dad as it’s Remembrance Day and his birthday this week,” I told her, hoping to guilt trip her into it.

“I’ll make him a cake then!” she jumped up, and went off happily to create chaos in the kitchen.

Making a cake is one of the few reasons Jesse will leave her room, and the one which strikes the most fear into my heart. I’ll never know how one person can spread a layer of flour so far – it defies the laws of physics.

I stand by with a vacuum cleaner, ready to suck up the worst, but it’s usually pointless as I still find small white mountains of flour in the corners of the room days later when it all settles.

“Here, taste this,” she waved a huge hunk of Victoria sponge in front of me, crumbs flying everywhere. I put it on a plate and then took a bite.

“Ooh it’s too sweet. And what’s that hard, crunchy stuff?” I grimaced.

“We’d run out of caster so I used granulated.

And I wasn’t sure how much icing sugar to use in the butter cream, so emptied the packet,” she said merrily, with the innocence of someone who never lets a recipe get in the way of their creativity.

“Hmmm… ” she finally agreed, “maybe it is a bit too sweet. Just as well Dad can’t taste it anyway!”

Email me at siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk or write to Community Corner, PO Box 791, Winchester SO23 3RP.

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