As most people will know Robbie has an over-active collecting gene. As well as all the usual things such as railway related items, model trains, books. shoes, ties, bags and countless other things, Robbie also collects Lego mini figures.
Sometimes I buy him two or three mini figures, but he rations himself and only makes one at a time. Each figure comes in a sealed bag so it is a bit of a guessing game about the contents and he gets so excited when he opens the bag to find a figure that he hasn't already got. He sits at the table and builds his mini figure, then he gets everyone to admire it, then more often than not he posts a photo of the latest figure on Facebook. I know it is a bit weird, but it is fairly harmless and it keeps him out of trouble (for a little while at least!).
An Wednesday when I got home from work I noticed that he had a batch of mini figures lined up. I thought it was a bit odd, but I didn't comment on it, nothing much surprises me where Robbie is concerned! The subject of mini figures didn't crop up until later on when we were on our own, but I noticed that Robbie kept glancing at the figures with a rather odd expression, almost as if he was angry with them. Eventually Robbie called me over and pointed to the artist figure. I looked, but clearly I was missing something because Robbie kept on pointing. He told me that someone had made one of his unopened mini figures and then lined all the figures up on the table. I told him that it was unlikely, perhaps he had just forgotten about the artist, but apparently Robbie (and elephants) never forget!
If it was a conspiracy there was only one suspect, the son who must not be named. The following evening I asked if he had been involved in the mini figure conspiracy. He laughed so much, but when he stopped laughing he explained that he had found our dog Meg chewing the mini figure pack, so he took it away from her, rescued the pieces, cleaned them up and then built the Lego man so that the pieces didn't get lost. So it wasn't really a conspiracy, it was a rescue.
Do you know what Robbie does when we go to bed? No, it's nothing to make you blush, you don't have to worry. He saves one little treat until bed time - he makes a Lego Man! He gets a new pack out of his drawer, carefully opens the bag with scissors and tips the contents out on the bed, keen to find out which figure is inside. It can be the cause of great excitement when he gets a figure that he really likes. Sometimes I go to bed before him but even if I am fast asleep I still get to share his enthusiasm. On one occasion I was sound asleep but he woke me up to tell me he'd had a very exciting evening, I wondered what he had been up to as I certainly couldn't remember anything worthy of note but apparently the thrill came from getting the tribal chief figure. It keeps him out of trouble and as they say, 'Little things ...........'
On Friday morning I woke very early, I was waiting anxiously and not very patiently for news that my new niece of nephew had arrived, I had been told the evening before that he was on the way and the wait seemed never ending. When my children were little they longed for a cousin and I was just as keen to be an aunt, but I only have one brother and one brother in law and for a long time it looked as if we would not get our wish. I was so excited when my brother in law Dorian and his wife Sara announced that a baby was on the way. My niece Charlotte is seven now and her little brother Jack is two, they are amazing, and my children love their little cousins. I think we had all given up hope of my brother Michael having any children, so when he told me some months ago that Jane was pregnant, my first reaction was shocked silence, but I was absolutely delighted by the news. My brother has been very chilled about the whole thing, in fact he seemed more anxious when his dog Poppy had puppies a couple of years ago, but I could tell that he was really excited about it.
Finally I got the news I was waiting for, I have a new nephew! Mum and baby were both fine, but when I saw the first photos my brother looked a bit shaky, he is not very good at dealing with hospitals and he has always been a bit funny abou
t blood stuff. My brother has been teasing the children by saying that he intended to call the baby Cecil after his favourite artist (Cecil Aldin) so we were all waiting anxiously for them to decide on a name. I didn't need to call the NSPCC after all, the baby is not called Cecil, his name is Oliver John. Emily is very keen that he should have ginger hair (she loves ginger hair), it is not possible to tell yet, but as my brother has ginger hair it is a possibility. I can't wait to see him!
As most people will know Robbie has an over-active collecting gene. As well as all the usual things such as railway related items, model trains, books. shoes, ties, bags and countless other things, Robbie also collects Lego mini figures. 
