Sometimes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

D is now 4 weeks into senior school and it's been quite a culture shock for both of us. I'm still petrified that he'll get lost going from one class to another, or run over on the way home, or he'll lose his lunch money and starve or any number of other unlikely things. D is still surprised that he has homework every night, and that much against his will he appears to be learning stuff completely unrelated to the television. Of course, all parents understand that children will never admit to learning anything; in fact you will be lucky if you get more than a "dunno" when you ask them what they've done that day. As a result, I was incredibly excited when D started to tell me about his science class without any form of arm twisting or torture...In addition I have unfortunately realised that mentally I'm still the same age as D, and I really ought to be supervised. Picture this conversation while I was making dinner the other night...

Me: D, will you go and fetch my cardigan from upstairs?
D:   Where is it?
Me: In my bedroom
D:   Where?
Me: On the chair (sighing and wondering if I should just fetch it myself)
D:   What do you need it for?
Me: Because I'm cold (and why can't you just do what I ask)
D:   Do you have to have your cardigan?
Me: Yes please (am I still in charge here? has there been a revolution? a mutiny?)
D:    Only you've got the kitchen foil there and in science we learned that tin foil will keep the heat in and      
        it acts sort of like an insulator
Me: And? (where is my cardigan?)
D:    So you could get warm again if you made yourself a cardigan out of tin foil, and then I wouldn't need to
        go and fetch the other one...
Me: Oh! I see! Now go and fetch my cardigan!

That's a fairly standard conversation in our house if I'm honest. But the really worrying thing is that I spent a good long time eyeing up that tin foil, and I honestly haven't come up with one good reason why I couldn't try making a cardigan out of tin foil, just to see how it works.

And this is only 4 weeks in - just think what I'll be making by the end of term!