Pudsey-itis

Date: 8:01am, 11 Nov 2011

When did the Pudsey bear thing get so big? I got home at 9pm on Tuesday night to find an avalanche of Pudsey-related school paperwork. There's a Pudsey lunch, £1 to wear something spotty for Pudsey day, Pudsey wristbands, Pudsey badges and Pudsey raffle tickets. I just went into the baby's nursery and they are outdoing the school in their enthusiasm. They are having a whole week of activities - a pjs day, a dress-up day, cake sales and various other events.

Soon the Pudsey extravaganza will occupy the whole pre-Christmas month or maybe all the various festivities - Valentine's Day, Comic Relief, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, Bonfire Night and Pudsey week - will just blend seamlessly into Christmas. My card-a-phobic partner is surprised that the card industry has not yet picked up on the Pudsey extravaganza [or maybe we are just not looking in the right places].

Meanwhile, while I deal with today [and my calendar deals with the Pudsey overload], daughter three is already planning next May's birthday sleepover. She constructed a card, listing selected drinks, food, games and midnight feast options with tick-boxes beside them. Unfortunately, the intended subject of her sleepover invitation is fairly unlikely to come, given that she is just six.

Daughter three has taken to the whole sleepover concept with unbridled enthusiasm, I think, because it involves sweeties. Meanwhile, daughters one and two were watching Max and Ruby with their brother this morning [kindly having flicked the channel from wall-to-wall One Direction videos - I think I am right in saying that OD have only two videos in existence, but the girls surf for them so they are more or less on a loop] and Ruby, who tends to the girly stereotype, was saying something about sleepovers having to involve makeovers. "No, they don't," shouted both daughters who have been drip fed messages by yours truly about girlish stereotypes. Daughter three looked perplexed. She had makeovers on her list of potential activities, shortly after midnight feast and schools.

I fear she is finding it difficult to process the many messages she is getting from different sources. She is trying to find an independent path for herself, but has some strong role models to get past, particularly daughter two who tends to the dramatic flourish and believes that her role is to force daughter three to bend to her will on every occasion. When daughter three gets upset and I intervene, daughter two flounces off with a "you always think it's my fault" [it is!]. Meanwhile, daughter one is complaining about the lack of malls in the countryside. Daughter two suggested she play One Direction with her [whatever that is]. "I'm not a baby," she replied. "Mummy," said daughter two, "I think we're losing her to the teenagers."

The baby, meanwhile, adores every one of his sisters and saves his bossiness tendencies for the dats [he can't say c]. He wanders around pointing his finger at them and giving them some very serious instructions in baby speak while they sit petrified, waiting for him to "stroke" them.

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Related tags: Children in Need