Unfaithful to Muffin On Whit Sunday I attended a party
given by a smashing blonde to celebrate her seventh birthday. There were ten guests of about the same age. After tea the principal diversions were a very small coracle on the swimming pool, a bicycle (for those who could ride it) and a tricycle, of which I think all had the mastery. Since these three conveyances could provide entertainment for a maximum of only four children at a time, the elements of a queue came into being. The hostess, normally an inconstant and highly selective viewer, was glued to the tele. vision set, awaiting the moment when Muffin would wish many happy returns to those who were celebrating their birthda on that day. Two others were with her for a short period The remainder, urged to go and fill in their time by watching this splendid new invention, adamantly refused. One hear: so much about the mesmeric effect exerted by TV upon small children that I thought it worth adding this scrap of encourag- ing though inconclusive evidence to a debate which must go on in many homes.
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