End-of-term

It must be the school holidays: it's raining. And there's that big brown envelope with the school's crest on it and the contents waiting to be read. You can't hide it forever. Go on... I'll show you mine if you show me yours:

The Dotterel has had an interesting first year as a stay-at-home dad. He has made excellent progress changing nappies (having had abundant practice) and can even manage to do it one-handed (following an unfortunate incident on the stairs last November).

Although sometimes prone to philosophical musings, he can be relied upon to lower the tone on other occasions. He takes gratuitous and self-indulgent pleasure in his son's acheivements, a trait he must learn to keep under better control in future. His facility with a video camera is improving, as evidence of some of his early efforts shows. He is also an adept operator of the vacuum cleaner, but finds other domestic duties tiresome. A little more dedication to dusting in particular would improve his performance next year.

In Home Economics (or Food Technology, or Nutritional Science or whatever they call it these days) Tim has become a little more adventurous of late, and has even started making up his own recipes. Physical activity (when it occurs) has consisted largely of going swimming, although given the amount of television viewing Tim does, a little more effort in this subject would be welcome.

Musical ability: has to be heard to be believed;

RE: playing with fire;

Lifeskills: bloody useless;

Overall: could do better.