My mum went out to work even when I was little. She used to send me to an ex-school nurse who looked after me whilst mum worked. This was before I started school when I was 5. The childminder was a neighbour and I remember sometimes carrying my bowl of cereal up the road to her house in the morning. I don't think it was an entirely happy experience, as the minder used to make me eat pea soup, which I detested, and she'd make you stand in the corner in the veranda if you did anything wrong. I remember standing there and making stories up about the clouds as the wind moved them across the sky. On another occasion I would sniff my hankie which smelt of mum and was a bit of a comfort. It wasn't all doom and gloom however, as the minder always listened to Music While You Work. And another programme would play 'Sparky' 'I'm a pink toothbrush' and 'Nellie the Elephant', which I liked. Funny how we tend to assume that all mums stayed at home and very few kids had childminders outside the family. Did anyone else? Viv.
