It would not be an understatement to say it hasn’t been a struggle. Six pregnancies, three children under six, and several life-changing events, untold dramas, adventures and crises. Then let’s not forget the mundane – the endless, endless, endless, endless, endless, endless meals to be planned, bought for, prepared, force-fed (ahem, gently coerced), washed up, wiped up; the countless, countless, countless, countless nights of vomiting, crying, nightmares, wet beds, ‘I want a hug and I don’t care that it’s 3am’; the various hideous child-related tasks that NO-ONE warns you about – lice, worms, leaking nappies, leaking nappies that defy belief as it creeps up their back and down their arms, children who walk slower than a snail; the relentless, relentless, relentless picking up of other people’s clothes, especially when with three girls and multiple changes per day, this can amount to a full time job. Ok, so I’m omitting the wonderful too – their beauty, their exhuberance for life, their wonder, their belief in you, their expressions, their cuddles.

But.. last night, the payback really began. All those nappies? Forgotten. All those wretched meals left uneaten? Almost forgotten. All those early mornings? Forgotten. Why? Because last night, after I’d put Ruby to bed, I was indulged in the most perfect 15 minutes of my life….. Daisy gave me a foot rub with baby lotion, while Poppy brushed my hair. It just doesn’t much better than that.