I love children's paintings!  Tonight our girls were painting their response to Saint Saens 'Carnival of the Animals' and to Disney's version of 'The Sorcerers Apprentice.'

There was a wonderful cross-eyed, yellow-faced lion, resplendent with golden brown and black mane.

There were two fabulous tigers with legs all the way up to their necks (so they looked more like octopusses/octopi that had gained stripes and lost a few legs)

There were a couple of box-shaped elephants, a monkey in a blue jumper and some very stormy water scenes.

Too soon children grow past these wonderful unselfconscious pictures and doubt therir own ability, so we made sure they got plenty of praise for their efforts, which now adorn the wall of the hall at D+2.

Confidence is such a fragile commodity, difficult to create and easily shattered.  Some of these girls will never have the opportunities that I've to discover and develop latent talent, so it seems all the more important that we help them generate self-worth now.

Long live long-legged tigers, that's what I say!