Pchhhhhhhh! Pchhhhhhhh!

There’s no getting around it, all small boys would rather play war than Trade Union Congress. That’s a good thing, says the author, and tells us why

An American friend of mine once said to me: “When your children get around to making you play Wild West with them, always try to be one of the Bads. Then, when you get shot, you can lie down and get a bit of rest.” That is the true, earthy parental realism. I thought of his words with wistful admiration one summer evening when my elder son, then three, was pursuing me round and round the washing line with brandished forefinger and delighted cries of “Pchhhhhhhh! Pchhhhhhhh!”1 And as I conducted a fighting retreat in and out among the flapping nappies, going “Pchhhhhhhh! Pchhhhhhhh!” back at him, I found myself, in intervals of wondering how soon I should be felled by a stroke, thinking how funny it was that all little boys so love this kind of thing.

MM

About the Author

Michael Mason

Featured Tags

There’s no getting around it, all small boys would rather play war than Trade Union Congress. That’s a good thing, says the author, and tells us why

An American friend of mine once said to me: “When your children get around to making you play Wild West with them, always try to be one of the Bads. Then, when you get shot, you can lie down and get a bit of rest.” That is the true, earthy parental realism. I thought of his words with wistful admiration one summer evening when my elder son, then three, was pursuing me round and round the washing line with brandished forefinger and delighted cries of “Pchhhhhhhh! Pchhhhhhhh!”1 And as I conducted a fighting retreat in and out among the flapping nappies, going “Pchhhhhhhh! Pchhhhhhhh!” back at him, I found myself, in intervals of wondering how soon I should be felled by a stroke, thinking how funny it was that all little boys so love this kind of thing.