As the programme finished a car's headlights flashed into the front room window and Isla saw them and said "who's that?". I don't really know how this happened but the words "Its the bedtime police, and they're driving round the street to check that all the children are in bed...." came out of my mouth. Where did that come from?! Anyway I decided to finish what I'd started and ushered them upstairs in the manner that they needed to get upstairs and into bed quick before the police knocked on our door. Next came a series of questions about the police. Ooops. I tried not to make it sound scary, just that they were doing checks (I almost believe my own lies sometimes!) but when Isla, who was now lying in bed asked if she could go to the toilet I told her to make it quick. She ran off to the loo, and whilst on the toilet, had a really concerned look on her face, every so often furtively staring down the stairs to make sure they weren't at the front door! She dashed back to bed, jumped in. Both of them settled down quite quickly and Saturday night for me was resumed with a glass of wine in hand and the X Factor.
The following morning I'd decided that the police trick was going to be a one off (it was a bit mean!) and I told them that the police were so happy with their performance at bedtime, they were the best children in the street and they wouldn't be coming by our house for a long time!
