Attention monger

Olivia is developing a very bad habit. As Friday approaches, she starts seeking attention. Things begin to collapse in anticipation of an extra two full days during which she can demand mollycoddling.

Last weekend it was the fuel filter that inexplicably attempted to drop off.

This weekend it was brakes.

Come Thursday, the brakes started to come and go. There was metallic screeching every time you pressed them too hard. And pressing them could go either way - too hard or too soft. Then on Friday night, while picking up our weekly "slap chips" treat, there was an ominous CLONK. It sounded as if something large and metal had snapped off, leaving my son's head hitting the door and my elbow hitting the window. Anxious inspection revealed nothing broken. It may simply have been the angle of the road we hit, or things knocking around in the back. Or so we hope...

Nevertheless, Favourite Man took the beast for quick long-block test drive - and confirmed that the brakes were being silly. So the wheel and hub cap on the worst-sounding one came off, a video of the brake movement was make, and our online experts were consulted. We cleaned off some brake-dust, stuck the wheel back on .. and guess what.

Olivia's back to normal. Generally speaking.

She would be. The weekend's over and she's not going to get a lot of attention for the next few days. So she plays along nicely, and starts to plot her next weekend emergency.

Darn attention monger.