They say that children are always more interested in the box than the toy.

Well, on a similar note, I was at a friend’s family BBQ at the weekend and one of the children had brought with her a large selection of toys which she pushed around in a mini shopping trolley.

She emptied the toys on to the ground one by one telling anyone who would listen what each toy was and what it did. She took out several cuddly toys, dolls and electronic games. Then she pulled out the last item – it was hard to make out exactly what it was apart from that it was cream coloured and made from porcelain. Puzzled, we all asked her what the ‘toy’ was. She didn’t reply and continued to play. Amid the silence her mum spotted the porcelain item and asked her why she had brought it with her.

It turned out that the porcelain ‘toy’ was an old toilet roll holder that she had found abandoned at home. I think her mum was more embarrassed than anything whileher daughter continued to play happily with the toilet roll holder.