It never ceases to amaze me how varied the homes of our children are, in size, cleanliness, tidiness and child-friendliness.
This week we have visited small flats where obviously limited funds have been used to make the place clean and attractive, and others where the furnishings are dirty and unkempt.
We have seen rooms packed full of expensive toys and electronic equipment; rooms with a few carefully chosen toys; rooms with no toys but an enormous T.V.; rooms with none of the above, and all combinations.
We have been to homes that are obviously always kept tidy and neat, with the possible but not invariable exception of the children's playthings; homes that look as if they have been hastily tidied for our benefit, and homes where the idea of tidying for visitors is an alien concept.
We have visited homes where they have been waiting for our arrival with great excitement and anticipation; ones where their startled faces are a sure sign that they forgot we were coming; and ones with that even surer sign - nobody was home. Some had even moved away without telling us.
Some had the requested photo of the child all ready for us - a beautiful studio portrait; others supplied a cute snapshot; others had to rummage to find one; a few offered totally unsuitable examples - face hidden by large dummy, etc; and the odd one had no pictures of their child to give us.
Amazingly, the children from all these varied backgrounds were almost all really sweet and lovable and we are looking forward to seeing them all in our Nursery, along with next week's batch!