Wandsworth Twins Club Christmas Party

One of the great benefits of having twins is that you have exclusive rights to several clubs and organisations. One of these is the Wandsworth Twins Club, a well-organised gang of locals who all have twins. On Sunday we went out en famille to their annual Christmas Party, held at the One O’Clock Clubhouse in Battersea Park.

It sounds blatantly obvious, but the room was filled with twins of all ages and their parents. What surprised me was how content everyone was, including even the smallest babies. I was deeply proud of our quiet and very well-behaved twins throughout the afternoon. Mind you, I’m sure I would have been equally proud if they’d misbehaved and caused chaos. As it was, they slept soundly through most of the festivities.

There were two outstanding entertainers at the party, a local guy called John Cronin who plays guitar (among other instruments) and sings for kids at parties and playgroups. He’s a very popular entertainer. Monty knew him well from a playgroup he used to go to and kept pointing him out to me saying “There’s John”. After each song Monty clapped and cheered and called out “Well done, John!” I’ve no idea where he gets that from. It sounds quite comical coming from a toddler. It’s really great to see someone as talented as John creating such a lively and fun environment for so many children. I have a great deal of respect for him - he makes it look so easy. All the time I’m watching him entertain all these kids I’m hastily crossing off “children’s entertainer” from my list of back-up careers. I just couldn’t do it.

There was also an extremely talented face-painter called Tracy who decorated one young boy as a tiger - I was amazed at how good it looked - I’ve seen a fair amount of face painting now, and think she’s right up there at the top of my recommendations. Apparently she’s a twin too, as is her mother. She had done such a convincing tiger we asked Monty if he’d like to be painted. In no time at all she turned him from happy boy to even happier lion. All afternoon he kept demanding to look in mirrors. It brought a smile to his face every time. I had to make sure he got an extra long last look at himself in the mirror before scrubbing it off at bathtime. Nevertheless, for the few hours that he wore the lion he looked terrific.

I couldn’t help being a bit envious of this generation. It was with regret that I found myself saying “They didn’t do that in my day”.

And then on to Father Christmas, a taller, slimmer version than any I had ever read about, who did a superb job of dishing out presents to all the children (discreetly placed in Santa’s sack when we arrived). I was taking notes as I’m next up for the Father Christmas role at Monty’s nursery later this week. Thankfully, although I don’t have a deep booming ho ho ho voice, my shape is about right for the Coca Cola Santa we all know best. Monty was delighted with his pirate hat and eye-patch and did a convincing “Arr, Jim lad” at frequent intervals.

When I was young… (I don’t believe I just said that) I remember it feeling like a lifetime passed in between Christmases and then each one was such a fantastic and exciting time of year. Now I have children of my own I can see that I’ll get to experience that fun all over again, even if somewhat vicariously through Monty, Tilly and Scott. I just hope their Christmases are as exciting as the ones my parents created for us.

* If you’re interested in hiring John Cronin at Fruity Tunes click here.

** And if you’d like your children magically transformed into lions, tigers or anything else have a look at Tracy’s site.

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