It’s said that many a bride has been planning her wedding since she was a little girl. I’m beginning to think there’s a lot of truth in this.

I often comment on how quickly Kara is growing up – think Jack’s beanstalk with an injection of growth hormone – and that seems particularly so at the moment. She turned five last week and one of her birthday presents was a rather lovely wedding dress and veil, which she was instantly taken with.

One day she is going to make someone a very happy man. Until then, she is practising all the important skills any good wife should possess on me, such as:

• The withering gaze when your husband has just said or done something incredibly dim-witted (which, in our household, happens about 17 times an hour).
• Standing with hands on hips and a deeply furrowed brow to express displeasure at a husband or child’s refusal to obey commands.
• Gesturing with palms upturned to wordlessly convey one or more of the following messages: (a) “Well, what did you think was going to happen?”, (b) “I told you so” or (c) “So next time will you just listen to what I tell you before you decide to try to balance my best crockery on top of a carving knife while blindfolded?”

Anyhow, Kara is clearly watching her parents carefully. On Friday morning, I had just given her a quick kiss on the cheek as she got out of bed when she turned round to me and said:

Wedding dresses. Pondering being married to your own father. I’m starting to worry about what she will look for next. Probably matching bridesmaids’ dresses to floral arrangements or something like that. Or drawing up seating plans.

Next she’ll be singing songs from My Fair Lady about getting to the church on time …

They really do grow up too fast, don’t they?

If you liked this post, why not follow me on the following social networks?