Not long after the S family moved house to the other side of town, J returned to babysit for the new neighbours. She looked after their newborn baby every afternoon so that they could attend cricket matches.

Given that our building overlooked the sports ground and offered fantastic views of the cricketing action from all floors, it seemed rather strange that our neighbours would abandon their child to a near-stranger in this way.

When we saw J wandering the corridors wine glass in hand, we began to worry for the safety of our neighbour’s child. Eventually J admitted that she could not cope with the stress of this baby-sitting job.

The time had come when an expert in childcare was required. Our neighbours asked around for someone who knew exactly what to do with babies, preferably in both English and German.

‘Leave it to me’, I said, ‘I’ll call the WB ambulance’.