FLAT LIVING VERSUS HOUSE LIVING

 2 nonsense bags Originally uploaded by PhylB

I know quite well the difference between flat kids and house kids given I didn't move out of the West End till Marcel was 4 and a half. For the first year in the suburbs I used to say to him 'Why don't you go play in the garden?' and he'd look at me puzzled as if I should provide him with a manual. He'd look worried and ask if we couldn't just go into town for a coffee instead. Obviously by 5 or 6 he became more adventurous, disappearing into the field behind the house exploring, climbing trees and playing unsupervised with friends. He'd got the hang of the freedom you get from not being in the city centre, though we maintained the compromise of taking the kids walking in the West end on the weekends. By 8 he loved the freedom and when I moved back into town temporarily for a year he acted like a caged animal, hating flat life at that age. Today my brother and his wife, who live in a lovely flat near Park circus, dropped by with their 3 year old. Thomas took him over to our herb garden and showed him the chives. Pudge already helps himself the all edible things in the garden and quite happily tells you what is edible and what isn't. Gordy looked dubious that you could eat chives but eventually gave them a go and looked quite surprised that they were palatable. He then tried to eat the leaf on a strawberry plant. Thomas explained that that was a leaf but that the little white flowers he could see would make way for strawberries which he could taste later in the year. Gordy then proudly announced 'We grow strawberries too at our house. We grow them in our fridge!' Hahahaha. How sweet (and townie) is that?