I have just lost my cool with my 7 year old. I know, not the best reaction. I’ve been asking her to tidy her bedroom for a few days now, today it felt like it was much worse on purpose and she’d spectacularly used a blue marker pen as lipstick. I have tried to make her bedroom as easy to tidy as possible, and I usually end up helping her, but I do expect a wee bit of effort. Anyway, tonight we had words over the state of it and the lack of effort. She said to me angrily: ‘well, I am looking into adoption again’, and not my best moment, but I responded ‘really?’. And then, God love her, she shouted at me: ‘NO, I belong here’. Of course I agreed, we cuddled, apologised and we’ve made a plan. So although frustrated, cross and exasperated we have both reaffirmed how much our family means to us. I’m not sure what my point is, but maybe it is that I get it wrong too many times, and that many times I’m not perfect, but the foundation of everything else I have done, when I do get it right, remains.