R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Dominic is hard work at the minute. For whatever reason, he is not terribly nice to Max or Maddie and less than charming to me. It may be because his Dad is away. It may be his personality. Let's hope it is the former.

Anyway, having tired somewhat of shouting at him and discussed at some length the need to not be rude to his family and show some respect for others, I decided to try and jolly him out of it. So I told him that whenever he was rude I was going to start singing to him. The song choice was obvious. Equally obviously, I don't sound much like Aretha, but it does make Dominic laugh and forget to be a total grotbag.

So far so good. However.

This morning Maddie and I stayed at school assembly (which both boys were at) and which was all about mother's day. The main event - apart from the head teacher, a City fan and a very staid looking woman in her fifties, sporting a full Man Utd kit for the benefit of Comic Relief - was a bit where the children were asked to put up their hands and suggest ways that their mothers showed they cared for them. No prizes for guessing whose hand was straight up. Oh God, I thought - what will he come up with. And I was right to worry. While all the other children suggested things like "cooks lovely food" and "gives me cuddles", Dominic's suggestion was, "shows me respect."

Now should I worry about this? And isn't there a rather fundamental error going on here? I shall clearly have to get practising the lyrics so he gets a little bit clearer about who is supposed to be showing respect to whom!