New Toy

I mentioned a new toy in my headline - I'll explain.

It was a bit of a surprise, came without wrapping and, most importantly of all, there were no instructions.

I have a Japanese friend who lives in Yokohama. She writes to me once a year, sending a very beautiful Christmas card and telling me about her life in the last year. She has had three boys, now young men and last year she told me she had retired. I was intrigued. She had a very traditional marriage, a husband who worked in the city, a lovely home, and the luxury of making her family her career. I read on.

Her youngest boy had left school and had embarked on university life in Southampton. She had decided that her 'working' life as a mother had come to an end and the story was beginning. Her command of the English language is pretty good and there was no doubt what she meant.

O was at uni, J had just left to begin her undergraduate life and after shedding tears and missing them both dreadfully, I found myself with time to spare. No timescale for producing meals, almost no housework, only enough washing to run the machine once a week and a shortage of china and cutlery as it took almost ten days to fill the dishwasher. I could cook what I fancied or not if I didn't. My life outside of work and social diary took on a rather nebulous form.

It took time to adjust my food shopping habits and for weeks I contributed to food waste statistics Eventually I figured it out, started to do things in MY time, went for coffee on a Saturday morning with my Telegraph and pen, didn't have to check in or request check-ins from anyone.

So the toy comes without rules and instructions. There can be as many players as you like, the pieces move in all directions, you can take it with you wherever you go, play it wherever you want for as long as you want and do you know what? I think it will be a best seller.