Be afraid. Be very afraid.

The first couple of weeks back to school have been full of accomplishments for First Born and Second Born. First Born gets to wear long trousers instead of shorts and looks suddenly very grown up - the teenager/adult he is going to be sort of peeking out through the gesticulating, bouncing, flapping, Dr Who-obsessed 10 year old. He has also conquered the fear of rugby and is rather looking forward to games tomorrow. *sags with relief*

Second Born, for his part, coyly reported that he has been elected as his class representative on the Pupils' Council. We warmly congratulated him and then pumped him for information on how this came to pass (they normally don't tell us ANYTHING about what happens at school so when he volunteers a snippet we jump on it like .........well, like me on a box of Thorntons chocolates). He explained that anyone who wanted to put themselves forward stood at the front of the class, then you told the class why they should vote for you and after several rounds of voting and elimination of the people with fewest votes, the last one standing is elected. Which in this case, was SB. We asked of course, what did he say to his classmates to get himself elected?

Apparently, he said "You should vote for me because I look after my friends." The look on his face made us suspect that the unspoken part of that pitch was "My enemies, on the other hand, I crush like insects beneath my feet. Choose wisely." Gordon Brown had better watch his back.