I see Cristiano Ronaldo has become a father. The man most famed for gelled hair, sculpted abs and having questionable balance, has followed in the footsteps of Madonna, Brangelina and Michael Jackson in acquiring a child from a dubious source. Whether he is the biological father, no one seems to know; nor does it matter, since he evidently has sufficient wealth to buy custody of the child from its mother in America. One for Fathers4Justice to celebrate? Maybe not: it appears the child will in fact be looked after by Ronaldo's sister. Presumably he will visit now and again, whenever he tires of his Ferrari and lingerie model girlfriend.
Meanwhile, in the altogether less glamorous surroundings of south London, an ordinary middle-class couple are in trouble after sending their children aged eight and five unaccompanied on a one-mile bike ride to school. They claimed the route was safe, the older could be trusted to supervise the younger on the journey, and they wanted them to experience the freedom that they themselves had known, of not being followed everywhere by adults. The headmaster threatened to call social services and the result is, the children will continue to ride but now in the company of a parent. I can't imagine that a year from now my sons would ride alone to school - not least because Daniel shows no inclination to ditch his stabilisers unless I'm towing him - and I can't say I think it sounds safe to do so in Dulwich. But I'm also uneasy with the notion that parents shouldn't be able to determine what's a suitable way for their children to travel.
Whatever your view on the Dulwich children, they can't be worse off for parents than the new purchase of an preening multi-millionaire playboy.
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