World Book Day? It’s in the lap of the Greek gods

PARENTING expert Marina Fogle, 39, is the wife of author and broadcaster Ben Fogle. They live in West London with their children, Ludo, eight, and Iona, six.

DRESSING up was never really a thing when I was a girl. Halloween was full of children in ghost costumes made out of old sheets. One year my mother rather adventurously painted a black nose and some whiskers on my face and I paraded the streets as a cat.

But now, thanks to the influence from across the Atlantic, costumes are a big part of every child’s life. It was World Book Day on Thursday – an occasion that warrants weeks of preparation. Cue a torrent of Instagram posts of children dressed as Harry Potter or Matilda.

This year though, the children’s school threw me a curve ball by introducing a theme – Greek myths. I wanted to cry. I have so much work to do, and so do the children. Their afternoons are packed with swimming practice,

WE RACE TO THE PARK TO COLLECT FROST-COVERED IVY FOR HEADDRESSES

creative writing club, a rugby match in thick mud. And that’s before they’ve done their homework, learned their lines for the school play, and practised their times tables.

I’m tempted to reach for my phone and find something suitable on Amazon. But then part of me thinks that getting the whole lot delivered and presenting it, pre-made, to the children as a done deal takes the magic out of it.

So the following morning over breakfast, we Google the Greek myths and lose ourselves in a bygone world.

By the time we’re on our way to school, Ludo has decided that he will be Zeus, while Iona has (to my joy) chosen Hera, goddess of childbirth.

And with that I decide to compromise. Rather than taking scissors to some old bedsheets, I resolve to get them a basic costume online, but the rest we’ll make ourselves.

Using the packaging from our Amazon order and some silver spray paint, we make their godly accessories. And as dusk falls, we race around the park collecting frost-covered ivy to make their headdresses.

I’ll never pretend that I’m a supermum and in today’s age, where more and more of us try to juggle working and parenting, it’s just not realistic.

But compromise is an important skill to have and so I’ll take that imperfection and run with it.