Soaring above the doom and gloom of cuts and closures was the rather eccentric sight of an eight-foot dancing tea lady on stilts leading a giant conga of children around a north London playground.
She was there to mark the opening of an expanded nursery, accompanied by a suitably-proportioned seven-foot trolley. "The sky was the limit at Ambler Primary School and Children's Centre this week," chirped the Islington Gazette, which covered the story.
The nursery, which is part of the children's centre, has been kitted out with new furniture and play equipment, and has made an extra 20 places available for threeand four-year-olds. Assembled guests were treated to cupcakes and tea, served by the pupils.
You have to wonder whether the tea lady, known as Bridie, hung around afterwards for a game of netball. If it came down to picking teams, would she perhaps have got picked first?
A care home for the elderly has donated some Wellington boots to a local school, reported the Somerset Guardian, making (ahem) huge strides to bridge the intergenerational divide often bemoaned in our society.
Sherborne House Care Home in Yeovil decided to foot the bill for 30 pairs of shiny blue wellies to Pen Hill Infant School "so they can work in their vegetable plots in all weathers", the paper reported. Head teacher Minnie House said: "The boots mean that the children can get outside in all weathers, whether it is for gardening or just general play."
Care home boss Caroline Sharp explained: "We really like linking up with others in the community ... we have some money in the budget for this sort of thing, and it seemed like a worthy cause."
What "sort of thing", exactly? Back in 2008 the home donated hi-visibility jackets to another local school. Come come now, it was not to warn older folk of their presence a mile off but, apparently, "to wear on outings". How cool.
Are you a Dummy Mummy, or do you know any? The phrase tops a list of "modern-day parenting jargon" reported by the Daily Mail (of course).
The aforementioned refers to "a woman rendered brain dead by the arrival of her new born who can't talk about anything other than babies". It is followed closely in the list by Pramnesia - which describes forgetfulness caused by child-rearing. Other terms bringing such enrichment to our language include Baby Gaga - a little show-off - and Disneyfying It, where you make the mundane sound magical such as "we're going to Asdaland".
The terms were unearthed in a poll commissioned as a blatant publicity stunt for the launch of the DVD release of the baby-rearing comedy called ... oh dear, excuse the flash of Pramnesia ... what was it now.
