DIARY OF A MODERN DAD
My son has learnt one of life’s most important skills – how not to tie his school tie
It’s wonderful when your children learn how to do things for themselves. Using a knife and fork. Brushing their teeth. Doing up their shirt buttons. Each little skill feels like a major achievement.
Recently my seven-yearold son passed just such a milestone. He’s learnt how to tie his school tie. This has made me extremely proud. Something else, however, has made me prouder still. He’s learnt how not to tie it.
Each Monday morning before school, he ties his tie. Then, when he gets home in the afternoon, he carefully loosens the knot, and lifts the tie over his head. This is so that the next morning, he can simply slip the tie back over his head, and re-tighten the knot. Meaning that he doesn’t have to go to the bother of actually tying or untying it again all week. This saves him valuable seconds which can instead be devoted to some more profitable task, such as reading about high-speed trains or playing Minecraft.
Some may call this behaviour lazy. I call it brilliantly efficient. I wish I’d thought of it when I was his age. Or, indeed, my age.