Do it again and again and again

 This was originally on the BBC Ouch! Website

As a family we’re really into age-appropriateness. I want Stan to watch things on the TV that are as close to his age – he’s nearly four – as possible. And actually, the same goes for me. At the age of 43 I could turn into “trendy dad” well, we've had the Black Eyed Peas album on in the car.
Well, specifically track one. Well, only track one. Kids like repetition. Anyway, it drove me to distraction. “Don’t play ‘Pump it’ EVER again”. Yet somehow it came on again, and again, and I started screaming: “Let me out. I’ll take my chances” Then I noticed an interesting thing. Stan knows all the words and was singing along. The lyrics sort of go: “Huh, huh, huuuuuhhhhhh” and he sang it all perfectly. This comes from DEEP repetition and is a timely reminder that, if I’m to be “the great Down’s dad”, I have to get into the repetition stuff: It’s a great way for Stan to learn. I’ll repeat that. Do it again and again and again and again until Stan gets it. It’s boring as all hell, but I have to realise that you don’t just get to do the fun stuff like running around the house causing havoc. By the way, I’ve just done some research on this band, and, tragically, they had a 2003 hit called “Let’s get retarded”. At least it gives me an excuse to break the CD that’s in the car…………………….