There is something about my 12-year-old relative that is irresistible to girls of a certain age. Maybe it is his cool, calm and collected attitude, or his good looks, or maybe a mixture of both.
At first it was entertaining and all the family were delighted with his new found attractiveness, but it is now getting to the point where their poor mum is driven to distraction with the constant knocking on the door and ringing of the bell.
When I was a youngster, I would never have dreamed of knocking on a boy's door to call for him, no matter how much I doted on him from afar.
That would have been far too uncool, but it seems girls are now in control and taking the initiative, more than ever before.
Star
Young Casanova, who also happens to be a budding sporting star, says he would never stoop so low as to ask anyone out, he simply waits for the girls to do it. In fact they often end up fighting over him.
I suppose big boys everywhere would dream about this sort of thing happening to them, but alas, it rarely does. Not unless you are Brad Pitt or his lookalike.
The other night, a gang of glamorous looking girlies came to the door and after being told that he couldn't come out to play, they promptly tried to gain entry to his bedroom.
Right there and then on the doorstep they asked him what colour his bedroom walls were painted, and if they could go up and have a look, providing his mum didn't mind. But of course she did mind and told him so.
Excuse
I've never heard an excuse like it before, in a bid to get into someone's bedroom.
Pretending to have an interest in interior design, when all you want to do is to get into a boy's bedroom, could be seen to be misleading.
His mum, who happened to overhear the conversation, nipped it right there in the bud before the lasses got a chance to barge their way in and inspect his sock drawer.
Children seem to be much older than their years now and with their hair straighteners, make-up and skimpy clothes, some of these little girls look like mini versions of pop stars or celebrities, and much older than their years.
They are from nice families and I am sure some of their parents would be horrified to discover that their adorable little daughters, whose mouths butter wouldn't melt in, were banging on the doors of young boys, demanding that they come out to play, or if not, that they be allowed up into his bedroom.
My younger cousin went on a school trip this week and the knocking on the door has calmed down, so we will have to see if his animal magnetism is still working, once he returns.

Alison Bellamy

The End