How old are you Sir?

So I’m in Singapore at the moment on a whistle-stop see-the-folks and renew a visa trip from Jakarta and this is the first time I’ve been away from the baby!

It is the first time but unfortunately won’t be the last time — the thought of being away later in the pregnancy, or even worse, after the pregnancy, is pretty depressing and I’m surprised how strong the feeling is already — after all she’s not even a lump yet!

Walking down Orchard Road I’m surrounded by babies — on foot, in prams, in bellies – they’re everywhere!

Mum and I start off in a shopping mall that has a great little baby-store. Mum confides that she really likes the stores in Singapore as the toys are educational and clever, but also fun and don’t have batteries — so no beeps and squeals — that sounds like my kind of toy.

I’d only found myself in a store like this on a couple of occasions in the past — always buying something for another child — but now I’m looking at the store through very different eyes.

Swimming through aisles of toys and gadgets, I have no idea what is appropriate for what age? When is a fluffy toy a thing of the past? When do jigsaws step in and what about lego — the store had no lego — I loved lego and once had over 1,000 individual pieces (sad sack I was I did count them).

Over near the cash register there’s a bunch of small plastic boxes, stenciled with the word “Shake”.

I pick one up and shake it — sure enough it rattles.

I try to open it but can’t and confused about what this toy actually is, I look to the shop assistant;

“What’s this?” I ask.

“It’s a rattle. You shake it.” she replies.

Too old or too young for this particular toy, she was too polite to point out.