Foxed

Message arrived from school during the weekend that the following monday would be 'Fancy Dress' day for my four year old.

The little one has never been comfortable in any costume. I asked him what he would like to dress up as and the answer i dreaded, 'Dinosaur' arrived. I had to request him for something simpler as there was not much time for preparation. He considered and finally wanted to dress up like a 'fox'.

Yes, ran to the craft shop to get felt paper,woollen, glue, cardboard, colurs and all those that went into turning him into a cute fox with a really bushy tail. My daughter made a lovely snout with all her artistic skills which looked really good and sat up with me in the night helping me complete the costume. The following day, when i dressed him up at school, the little 'fox' was all happy. Half and hour later, with the judges running late, the kids were really restless and the fox was the most restive of the lot. He started feeling highly uncomfortable in his costume and complained of sickness to the teacher. He started to cry and wanted to just go home. He took off the snout and refused to wear it again. I had no choice but to paint his whiskers and nose with eyeliner liquid.

The parents were asked to leave the children with the teachers and to return only when the judges had done their rounds. This took another hour and by then, the fox had completely lost it. Finally the ordeal was over and he come out of the class

room. The painted whiskers and snout had beem washed down by the tears. One ear was missing, but the tail was intact.

I asked him 'How did it go?'

He said 'Fine'.

'Did Aunty ask you anyting? '

'She asked who i am, and i said Giraffe'.

'Why???'

'Because i got tired of being a fox.'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I laughed, but my daughter is still furious .....