I was watching E. and thinking: In her day…she wakes and plays in the bed. Then Granny has bought breakfast for her… sticky rice…of which more later---pork…doughnuts…soya milk …actually she will eat half a melon!….and maybe Granny will feed her.
She will play with me then for an hour or so. Around 9.00/10.00 am little children, the same age, will appear and they play together. She is patient with them. She will play more on her own, and a bit with mama, and then Aunties, whom she bosses about . Later she will eat and play with Granny again. She is keen on tormenting the fish and any bowl of water this month. In the afternoon she still sleeps a little listening to Rhymes and Peter Rabbit!.
Towards evening her younger cousins come back from school-they are 5 and 8, she is very fierce with them, sticking up for herself.
Then around six the older ones-12 and 14 come for a while. They treat her like a doll, to which she accedes. I cannot believe their lives..today!! They are called Pat and B-ie the second daughter A, B..get it? The parents do not care if they go to school. The boys are buzzing around them both…B’s friend-13 is already pregnant and married..to a 30 year old…for a few hundred pounds I suppose…these are the fringes of our life…In a bizarre way, mainly, I think, through the efforts of Granny, her part of the family have become part of the new Thai Middle Class-Nurses, Teachers, Business women…but the other side of the tracks!!??
Back to mummy and daddy to play and read books and fall asleep
So she has friends of 3 and 4, cousins of 5 and 8, also 13 and 14, Mummy of 30, Aunties of 30s and 40s, daddy of 50s, and Granny of 60s…..to be with…I suppose she learns something from all of this…All girls except Da… What is missing ? Grandpas and Uncles…of how many lives is this the case?…In Farnham she had Chris which was very good for her. And in London and Wales Rhodri..Not enough boys for fun…Our friends..boys.. in Wales nice to her, for whatever reason!……but old and casual..and not family…?!
The children, having given up on the cats and dogs, capture themselves:
