It's Mother's Day, my second favourite parent-based day of the year! And I've already had an e-mail from my Mum to say she's taking my gift back to the shop. I knew it was a mistake to go to Ann Summers. But that aside, the day's going well so far. Or as well as a day can go when I'm not the one getting presents.

This time last year, Amelie gave Lisa a fabric flower, which was obviously lovely, but fell down in one crucial respect: she couldn't eat it. In the twelve months since, however, Amelie's learnt a lot about her mother's likes and dislikes, so this year she's put the flour back into flower, and gone with a daisy biscuit and a hot chocolate maker...


Naturally I had to act as her personal shopper, but having returned from the stores, I explained my purchases to the client by telling Amelie that "Mummy likes biscuits and hot chocolate."

To which she responded "Yes. And you do too."

Annoyingly, she's seen right through me there.