Today, as Elwyn packs up to return to her home in England, I packed up our grandchildren’s toys from when they were small, ready to take to the local kindergarten. Our favourite, because it was Tom’s and then Thea’s favourite for at least 1 year each, remains the farm tractor. Tom used to push it around the house for hours at a time, tooting the tractor horn and pressing the buttons that made farm animal noises.

But now that Tom can read a normal type book of around pages to himself, and Thea can recite from 1 to 10 in Mandarin, it’s time to let these treasures go to a new home where other small people will enjoy them once more.