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Two landmarks for my young children, this week in Wales

Tom Winnifrith
Thursday 22 April 2021

If you are not a parent neither of these little landmarks would seem to matter. But if you are you will understand the feeling. First up is Joshua, aged just over four and a half and still at nursery in England. But that will change in September.


We only applied to one primary school, the one here in the last village in Wales. We could have applied to the one over the bridge in England where most of Joshua’s pals from nursery will go but for a variety of reasons we did not. I fancy a short walk to school as it will be me dropping him off and picking him up. I like the idea of him learning that most useful of languages, Welsh. And I have done pre school mother’s clubs in our village school and like the atmosphere and its outdoor focus.


Today the formal notification arrived. Pages and pages of it. Naturally, the school is committed to equality, inclusiveness yadda, yadda, yadda. Thus, given the new diktat of the Welsh Government, I can look forward to the all white staff lecturing the boy from one of the biggest houses in the village about how he is a real victim of discrimination  & inequality because he is of mixed race. Whatever. That tearful day of dropping him off for the first time looms.


As for his sister, aged five months, her landmark is eating. This is jolly useful as her mother went back to work yesterday so Jayarani is now in nursey at least some of the time. So far, it has beem mashed cauliflower and baby rice and she loves it. Last night was also my first solo night in charge of both pests as the Mrs headed off, over the border, to an English boozer for her Welsh book group. Please Mr Drakeford can you explain again why having an extended pub lockdown here in Wales achieves anything at all?


As Jayarani fell asleep in my arms as we watched an Endeavour re-run it seems like just yesterday that little Olaf and I would watch the bill together before bedtime, huddled on a sofa in London. Before I know it Jayarani will be like her big sister Olaf, off to University and lecturing me about how the working class really need to embrace the concept of gender fluidity en masse if they are to be allowed to join a modern and progressive Police Force. Siuch is life.

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About Tom Winnifrith
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Tom Winnifrith is the editor of TomWinnifrith.com. When he is not harvesting olives in Greece, he is (planning to) raise goats in Wales.
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