Is She Really Going Out With Him?

SPECTRUMITE mum is wondering whether she really should have graciously covered Spectrumite's Son's coolness (or rather general apathy) towards romance by buying his girlfriend a Valentine's card and a tin of sweeties.

HAPPY COUPLE: Bob & loyal Afton

Still, I felt the need to help him out after he scrawled 'love Bobby' in last year's card to her and received in return a giant handmade venture with personalised poetry inside. It wasn't quite worthy of a Shakespearean sonnet but it wasn't far off.

I have until now considered it an achievement that an autistic boy of 11 has had a girlfriend for four years.

But recently I've realised that I need to take two important facts into consideration:

1) The achievement is actually hers, for hanging on for dear life to the relationship without a huge amount of encouragement from Romeo.
2) To say that you're 'going out' with someone in primary school generally means that you're on nodding terms with them.

Still, this bodes well for the future. All he needs to do is find a wife who doesn't mind whether he notices he's married or not.

Alec's love affair, if you're wondering, remains firmly with the biscuit tin, which never lets him down.