My mum came to stay last week and it was lovely on so many levels. Being a single mum is hard and going back to work at the same time makes life pretty tough. When one is busy ‘getting on with it’ one forgets how the smallest things can make the biggest difference. Even having another pair of hands to empty the dishwasher was amazing. Having someone wipe the table after breakfast, what luxury! (We do that about every three days around here, I remarked wryly as I saw her swoop on the table, cloth in hand). Coming home to a glass of wine and grown up conversation; being able to discuss what on earth Marcella is up to, going to work without the mindnumbingly endless administration involved in organising childcare. It felt like a holiday! The kids positively blossom with more attention and even the weather was glorious! Finally some sunshine; I think she was wondering why we had decided to settle in the Rainiest Place on Earth, following her last two visits.

She also insisted I try the recipe I got with my FlavourFirst veg box; bacon-wrapped stuffed filet of pork with roast rhubarb, yum! Not that I eschew cooking proper grown up food but it can be disheartening when your only audience is two ungrateful children with their faddy appetites and tendency to say ‘yuck’ when presented with anything but fishfingers. I exaggerate of course, I’m lucky they like most things but generally the plainer the better. Sigh.

Another fab thing was Mum’s fitness tracker on her phone. Now, I’ve been reading about these on Martin Lewis’s website, as he’s a big fan, so I was keen to see how many steps we were doing per day. Turns out our new route to school racks up 2000 steps, plus another 1800 – 2000 on the return journey (depending on whether you take the shortcut). Which is almost halfway to your daily 10 000 steps and it’s

oooh, fancy

not even 9am! Sold! After a smidge of research I decided on a Jawbone24

because it also tracks your sleep and I’d like to know if I’m getting more or less than I think I am. It also monitors the quality of your sleep and how many times, if any, you wake up during the night. Awesome. Hopefully I can work out whether there is any way of waking up feeling refreshed. Apparently I was able to do that once upon a time.