Mermaids…

“Auntie Janey, can you take me to the zoo so I can stroke a mermaid, coz I have never seen one yet” baby Abi pleads with big penny eyes as we did a jigsaw of a beautifully drawn mermaid.

The stunning green shimmering tail enchanted wee Abi’s imagination and she traced her finger round the swishy bright fish tail and told me how much she loves mermaids and wants one …just a wee one…even a baby one…for Christmas.

I really didn’t have the heart to tell her mermaids weren’t real…she looked so passionately at the mermaid that I was tempted to fashion a green sequined tail from fabric and lie in the bath for her with two big clam shells on my boobs tied with string, but that would be tantamount to abuse.

How can you explain to social workers that you dressed in shiny taffeta and let a three year old stroke your flappy fins without it sounding creepy?

And trust me Abi would go to nursery and tell everyone how Auntie Janey is a mermaid, who lies half naked in the bath and loves to get petted; she is the master of telling tales.

Abi told me once that she gets locked in a cupboard, has no toys and hasn’t been fed since Tuesday.
She is really convincing and despite the fact it was me who had been looking after her since the Monday I actually believed her, till I shook my head and broke the spell of the wee brown eyed tall-tale-telling three year old.

I do love her and her wondrous stories that involve meerkats, monkeys and wee fairy that bites babies.

‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’ Einstein said and I believe him.