RICHARD IRVINE

Feeling saddle sore as twins get a handle on country life

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"How's your new bedroom, Emma?" I asked in a proud fashion, expecting a positive response since she now had a space all to herself and free of her brother.

"Bit small," she replied, and I calmed myself by thinking she wasn't aware of the sacrifices we made to move across the country for space, only for her to say it still wasn't big enough.

I also knew there'd been a deal struck in which Emma's room wasn't as spacious as her brother's. So, when she said, "bit small," she actually meant: "It's not as big as Thomas' room."

I later learned the deal was very much grander than I had thought, involving the removal of a non-load bearing wall and the re-imagining of our en-suite, all to give Emma more space, in which she'd probably complain her view wasn't as good as her brother's.