Holding out for a Hero!

Over Christmas, one of my very good friends gave Little Man a fireman helmet. No one could have suspected that a simple piece of yellow plastic with a black flap at the back of the neck would bring so much fun.

Now, I don't know if you realise this, but being a fireman is an extremely serious business. Everything must be done quickly, and to Little Man's exact specifications if we're going to save the day. A typical Saturday morning in our house could be described as follows:

Little Man: "Mammy, Mammy, come whickly! Someone is in trouble and we need to rescue them. It's an emergency!"

Mammy dutifully runs to the playroom where roles and responsibilities are doled out.

Little Man: "Ok, I'm gonna be Fireman Sam, Mammy will be Penny and Little Lady will be Fireman Pat. Let's go! My baby leopard is in trouble!!"

Mammy, Little Lady and Little Man don their (real and imaginary) fireman helmets. We sit in the firetruck (also known as the futon) and put on our seatbelts very carefully. After a thorough seatbelt inspection by Little Man, he drives us "whickly" but carefully to scene of the emergency, siren screaming all the way.

At this point, I'm starting to get a little worried about the fate of the poor baby leopard, but I have faith in Fireman Sam - he'll know what to do.

Soon, the firetruck comes to a stop. Now, we must all take off our seatbelts, open the doors and put our helmets on the seats of the firetruck. (Yes, I have asked that question, and apparently it's because we don't want them to fall and get hurt. Perfectly logical.)

Now is Little Man's time to shine, his big moment, his opportunity to show us what a big, brave fireman he is and to save the day. We locate the poor unfortunate baby leopard, lying prone on the floor. It doesn't look good. I turn to my own little Fireman Sam, and ask him what we're going to do next. He tells me and his little sister to stand back, holds his arms out to protect us from harm, and with just eight little words, he saves the day:

"Baby leopard, come out from trouble! This minute!"

Well, that solves that then.