Writing -- Baby Talk: Everybody needs good neighbours

The following article featured in a weekly column on parenting in the Women on Wednesday supplement of The Evening Echo, one of Ireland's leading regional daily newspapers. It appeared in the 25 August 2004 issue.

Two sets of clothes each, check; blankets, check; bibs, check; travel cot, check; cuddly toys, check; nappies, check... the list just went on and on.

Our girls, all three of them, are going to stay with our next door neighbour tomorrow and we were trying to get all of the associated paraphernalia ready. My wife and I are going to the wedding of one of our best friend's, and for the first time in over a year we'll be childless for a night. It's going to be brilliant: for once we won't have to worry about getting home on time for the babysitter and there will be no screaming kids to deal with first thing in the morning when we're nursing our hangovers. Bliss!

We haven't been to a wedding for ages. Last year we missed one because our baby had just been born. This time though we were determined that nothing was going to stop us. My wife had babysitters organised weeks ago: the baby was going next door for the night and the twins were going to stay over with a friend. Then this morning the phone rang. It was the friend's mum. He'd come down with something: his temperature was up and she didn't think she'd be able to take the twins.

Disaster! Where on earth would we find somebody we could trust who was crazy enough to take a pair of hyperactive three-year-olds for the night at such short notice? It was beginning to look like one of us might have to miss the wedding.

Our neighbour arrived for a cup of tea and a chat soon afterwards and my wife told her about our dilemma.

"Sure, I'll take them," she offered. We looked at her incredulously. She had her two ten-year-old nieces staying with her, and she was already taking our little one for the night. Surely taking the twins as well would be too much.

"Not at all," she insisted, "the more the merrier." We quickly accepted before she had chance to change her mind. The wedding is tomorrow afternoon and she's taking the kids off our hands at around 11am to give us time to get ready on our own. It was as if our "fairy godmother" had appeared, waved her wand and suddenly we could go to the ball after all.

We thought we might have trouble explaining the new arrangement to the twins. They'd been looking forward to spending a night at their friend's house, and tantrums would surely ensue once they discovered that things had changed. Amazingly though, they were even more excited about going to stay next door with their little sister and our neighbour's nieces. They even went around this afternoon to see the beds they'd be sleeping in, and ended up staying there for lunch. Everything was working out fine.

Once the bag of essentials was packed the girls, being the girls, insisted on packing their own bags. In went the hair bobbles and slides, in went the sunglasses and hankies, in went the books, the games, the toys, the dolls and goodness only knows what else. Their bags are by the front door now, all ready for their overnight adventure next door.

We're lucky to have such great neighbours. From the moment we moved in they've been brilliant. We help each other out whenever we can and it gives you real peace of mind to know that there's someone right next-door who you can rely on. What our neighbour did today, however, goes above and beyond the call of neighbourly duty. If they gave out medals for outstanding neighbourly conduct she'd be awarded a boxful of them.