There is an unspoken 'rule' concerning Edinburgh birthdays--some aspect of it has to hark back to childhood. In April when we were over and Niall's sister celebrated hers we had a "Gruffalo" cake.
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| Niall's bucolic birthday cake |
Last week it was Niall's birthday and in addition to his 'normal' presents he was gifted with a Dr.Who sonic screwdriver and some excellent Muppet socks. For those of you not familiar with Dr.Who, this was an extremely well beloved children's sci-fi show on British TV's BBC1. It ran from the 1963 until 1989 and was a viewing highlight of many a child who grew up anytime between these dates.
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| The Muppet's Statler & Waldorf facing off! |
After "resting" for 16 years it returned to the screen in 2005 and since then has again been hugely succesful. The Doctor is always armed with his 'sonic screwdriver' which assists him in getting out of all sorts of tight corners.
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| one sonic screwdriver |
Getting the toy out of the packaging proved to be a major headache and required the combined afforts of 3 middle aged grown-ups who, had to either don glasses to read instructions or, remove them!
In vain we looked for assistance from the neighbouring children but
there's never a clever 9 yr old around when you need one!
So there was nothing for it--we steeled ourselves for loading the three batteries, one of which promptly eeled out of fingers! Result: Two of three grown-ups were on their knees to search for the errant escapee while the third remarked cheerily that we'd better get used to it as one day we'd probably need these batteries for real --they were of the hearing-aid type!
When finally assembled the nifty toy beamed images of well known Dr Who baddies such as the Daleks. Had we still been living in Suffolk where we had reams of trick or treat visitors on Halloween it would have come in very handy!
15 comments:
What a set of presies!
Will he be wearing/carrying them tonight? You never know when they'll come in handy.
If he was a boy scout he will understand the need to 'be prepared'!
I know someone who would be suited by those socks....
What a lot of fun you have!
Hello Niall and Antoinette:
First a very Happy Birthday to Niall and many happy returns of the day.
Secondly, we could not agree more that in matters of sonic screwdrivers or indeed anything else resembling a piece of technology a young child is definitely required. This is, we used to find, the saving grace in the classroom when no matter what piece of educational technology ceased to work at least 30 members of the class were fully qualified to assist!
Happy days!
Or should it be pressies?
@Gaynor - I've just asked him.... I didn't get a cheery reply ;-)
BTW the rest of his pressies were serious history books and things of that ilk!
@Fly - we're in training for growing old disgracefully [we hope]
@Jane & Lance - kids do have their uses ;-)
As for technology in the classroom--things haven't changed! If it can go wrong, it will go wrong!
Now that's an idea for DH's birthday later this month - the sonic screwdriver, not the socks, as he will only wear my hand-knitted ones now.:-)
Belated birthday greetings to Niall.
@Perpetua - every man should have one to channel the inner boy ;-) [although sometimes I don't think they need any help!] -- Antoinette
Thanks -- Niall
That looks like a super duper gizmo thingy that one could play around with for ages. That cake looks like a super duper cake that one could make quite a little piglet of one's self when eating it!
@Vera - it is actually quite a nice toy as the beam projects images from the series onto a wall. Think any kid [it's for 5+] of about 6 to 8 would have great fun with it.
The cake did not last long; piglets indeed we were :-)
I think his pressie is going to give him hours of fun!
@LindyLou - the odd "exterminate! exterminate!" has been heard ;-)
Belated birthday wishes. Nigel and Diane
@Diane - Thanks!
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