Buggy Blogger mum to J (4), B (2) and S (9 months) observes that boys will be boisterous and digs out a clean hanky as the nativity play preparations begin.

The boys are revolting! No I'm not referring to their propensity to stick their fingers in their food / noses / ears during mealtimes though admittedly that's not particularly pleasant. I’m talking the other type of revolt.

Don’t get me wrong, 90% of the time butter wouldn't melt. But take your eye off the ball for a second and they incite trouble quicker than you can say 'toddler taming'.

Whether it's tipping Lego wantonly all over the floor, colourfully disputing whose is the toy ambulance to have and to hold, or refusing to eat pasta with the cheese … horrors … mixed into rather than sprinkled on top, it's been an unruly week.

The baby's the worst of the lot having turned overnight into a wriggly livewire. Changing his nappy these days is like trying to strap a Pampers Active Fit round a revolving door. And if there are stairs or a full potty nearby he'll make a beeline towards danger just to ensure mummy's on her toes.

And none of this would be unusual … all in a day's work, boys will be boys and all that … except that I can't help feeling a little rattled at a worrying new development on top of all the rest. J and B have both got a carving knife fixation: wanting to see it, wanting to know where it lives, wanting it to be their best friend (well next-best, after Winnie the Pooh). Now tantrums and table manners I can deal with. But knife obsessions? Resolve to brief the playgroup teachers on downplaying 3 blind mice, consult Gina to see if she has any advice on contented weaponry management and place an indefinite embargo on all Sunday roasts. Here's hoping the fascination abates by Christmas, though, or we'll have to be imaginative with the turkey.

Talking of Christmas, J's class has already started the Big Countdown having set a date and allocated parts for their nativity play. Heaved a sigh of relief on finding we lucked in on the home-made costume front – he's a shepherd so I should be sorted with the old tea-towel and dressing-gown combo. (Pity the poor mother who discovered her son was the camel though.)

J's now regularly coming home full of song about Bethlehem and the birth of the Messiah etc. Rather confusingly he's also belting out 'who let the dogs out' and 'dance to the music, oh yeah!'. Either the nativity's just got trendy or J's picking up more than the rules of 'It' from the bigger kids in the playground. But as long as that doesn't extend to them swapping Sabatiers behind the bike sheds then who am I to worry?

• Click here for the next Buggy Blog
  
  
• Click here to read previous issues of The Buggy Blog
  
• Christmas Family Survival Guide - click here