The Farrows - A temporally challenged family!

We Farrows seem to have certain problems with the concept of time. Punctuality for instance. If Kai ever manages to appear at school before the morning bell rings,the other parents are in a state of shock. A sight as unexpected as seeing a swallow in December.

Children have a special relationship with the whole concept of time. A day for them can go on for an eternity. Part of this comes from the fact that they are experiencing things for the very first time.An exciting day is bliss, a dull day torture!


Kai is seven years old and has been going to nursery for several years so you'd think that he'd have grasped the concept of the five-day working week followed by the two-day weekend. Not a bit of it! I asked him recently how many days a week he went to school.


Is it 10? 12?

He hadn't a clue.

Ok ,let's try that another way: How many days a week does Mummy go to work?

20? 15? I'm not sure.

OK. How many days a week do I work?

Oh I know that! 5 minutes!

Kai's very first English sentence was: Mummy's working. Daddy's asleep.

I too though seem to be having problems with time. I just got a perplexing mail from our good friend Jeanie in Islington (pictured above shopping for trinkets in Amsterdam).

For those of you who don't know here, Jeanie is made of the same kind of stuff as her fellow Welshperson Professor Indiana Jones. Many years ago, we travelled around South America together. Not only did she manage to drag me through the Andes along the Inca trail, she also single-handedly defended my honour on Ipanema Beach against all the shameless garotas who clearly wanted to have their wicked way with me.

Anyway,in her mail Jeanie told me that she is currently working 17-hour days!

I was stunned. 17 hours! Are there actually 17 hours in one day? That does seem an awful lot.I'm quite sure I'm not awake that long.

I had to do some serious counting and yes! she's right. 24 hours in a day! Well I never!

I hang my head in shame when I think of her Olympian working days.In fact, I think I need to go and have a lie-down.

Regretably the Swedish Protestant work ethic just hasn't really rubbed off on me.

Ulrika asks me to do some housework:I protest!