Once upon a time, there was a boy who was turning five. He is a boy who loves stories about cheetahs. Everyone knew this about him… there were eight cheetahs in the cards he received from the other children (even though one was hiding behind a tree on one card!). Today was his birthday event at mat time. He hadn’t been to the centre for three weeks because he’d been in and out of hospital with a foot injury. Today he was distressed (unusual for him) that his mother left. Very. But he managed to get back from that terribly seductive edge. I had planned to tell a story for, with or by him… and was very relieved that he recovered his equanimity in time for us to quickly make decisions. Yes, a cheetah story… I could make it up. Could he tell me though, please, just three things that the cheetah was good at? Yes, running, jumping on other animals and climbing trees. And one thing that troubled Cheetah?…one thing he couldn’t do, and would like to be able to do? it turned out to be swimming. So I had all I needed.. a character and a challenge/obstacle/ problem.