Welcome Mr. Wall

Thanks to the generosity of our neighbours Franck and Beatrice, we are now a real family…we have our first family pet; a goldfish named Mr. Wall. Mr. Wall will reside in a rather splendid aquarium in my office (which has a mantelpiece high enough out of reach to prevent small children from trying to see if Mr. Wall can survive outside a shattered tank and 5 litres of spilt water). In my day, goldfish languished in a simple glass bowl – I suppose this must be the fish equivalent of our own “Generation Y” and constantly increasing expectations. Given the copious amounts of food on offer and the luxurious surroundings in which Mr. Wall lives, life expectancy is looking good (for him). The feeding of Mr. Wall will now actually be integrated into Maxime’s bedtime routine (which seems to be getting longer rather than shorter. It is currently; bath, food, pi-pee, teeth, nappy, wrapped up like a sausage in his quilt, prayers, lullaby routines, granting of iPad, removal of iPad, kiss from Mum, kiss from Dad, leave the door open, close the door but leave the landing light on). Anyway, a new chapter of the O’Brien family has started, and it is infinitely more palatable than a fourth baby – Mr. Wall comes fully house trained and he rarely cries, vomits or punches his sister.