Amelie turned to me a couple of hours ago and said "Daddy, did you know there's a type of whale called a beluga whale?". I was slightly taken aback, but I told her I'd heard rumours to that effect, and asked where she'd got her information. She replied "I saw it on the laptop".

This is why I was never on University Challenge. As a teenager, I had to walk a mile into town just to look something up at the library. Amelie's four, and doing her own research on the internet. She'll have no trouble plagiarising Wikipedia for her A-levels.

Unfortunately I'm in no fit state to help her with her homework. Having struggled all week with a bad throat and a vanishing voice, I finally threw in the towel at lunchtime today. Yesterday afternoon I was apologising to the patients for my lack of a voice. This morning I was unable to apologise.

I think I was finally broken at the end of yesterday's clinic by a 93-year-old in a wheelchair who turned up without an appointment due to a mix-up at the care home. I used up my last vestiges of good health by staying late to see her, and by this morning I was running on empty. I got through a half-day clinic using a mixture of smiles, hand gestures and painkillers, and then took the afternoon off sick.

Fortunately Amelie was at nursery today, so I was able to get some life-giving sleep this afternoon. I was eventually woken up with this...


I think the angelic sign language of 'Christmas Tree' would look slightly more holy if she didn't have the hand tattoos of a navvy, but other than that, it's delightful. She even had Toby joining in in the background. It's no wonder I've got a headache.