1. I love doing a boring task while half-listening to Alec play. He starts by cutting string with scissors. Then when the pieces of string are too small he starts cutting hard blobs of modelling clay. Then he is building a rocket. Now the scissors are buried in playdough and he is using the tiny bits of string to rescue them.
2. When I turn back I find Bettany up on the table helping herself to more baked beans.
3. At bathtime, to wipe my children's dirty faces and sticky hands so they are clean and soft again, ready for their crisp white beds.
