I must assume that when the Princess speaks English, she takes her tone from me. I fear it is not a very nice tone.
When I stub my toe and howl in agony, she will kindly ask what’s wrong and when told say sternly “well then be careful and don’t do it againâ€.
The house usually echoes to the sound of herself shouting “are you coming or not?†when she wants me to inspect her latest achievement “look Mummy, I’m eating a slice of ham†regardless of what I might be doing “I’m just finishing changing Daniel’s nappy†and how easy it might be for me to get away and how important I might consider what she particularly wishes to draw to my attention.
Every time she addresses me and I fail to respond instantly she says in a strict and reproachful voice “I asked you a question, Mummyâ€. A lot of the time, I’m forced to point out to her that no, actually, she hasn’t asked me a question and has just made a statement to which I am supposed to respond. She is trying to work out what a question is, so now when she says something she follows it up with “Is that a question or a misstatement Mummy?â€. It’s like living with President Bush.