Who is in control?

After the first few sound recordings, recordings we grandiosely call ‘radio programmes’ or ‘podcasts’, we started to get into a rhythm. We look at one animal each session. As long as we haven’t lost the xylophone we do the standard intro (like the Welsh ‘hello campers’ lady on Hi De Hi - a tv programme that used to be on on Sunday nights in the 1980s) and in the last few we added a xylophonic flourish at the end. The six year old, however, isn’t very impressed about that addition. It is, in his opinion, inconsistent with previous episodes. We’ve had a number of comical silent battles over the xylophone donger before that end flourish. Nevertheless, the mum has insisted on doing it since the idea came into her head.

This underlines the question, just who is in control here? Through the process of undertaking our evening readings at the ‘radio station’ (an Ikea shelf unit that we sit on cushions the floor next to and onto which we place the phone, the xylophone and the book), we’ve had a lot of discussions about who is doing what. Producer and editor (or not because there isn’t any) - the mum; presenter, star-of-the-show, researcher and director - the six year old. It’s an interesting collaboration. It’s helping us see the different roles that we each play.