This lunchtime I asked my children, “How would you parent differently from me?” “How would you want to be remembered by your children?”

The standard answer, as expected, was more fun and less strict. I then asked what that would mean in practice and Indy’s response was:

“I wouldn’t be so obsessed about coats…” now I didn’t anticipate that. When Indy was younger, illness was usually triggered by her being chilled as a result of wearing insufficient clothing, hence my obsession of reminding her “Don’t forget to wear your coat…”

One of life’s mysteries is why, as soon as children go to secondary school, they become allergic to coats or anything which might possibly keep them warm and dry?

You just cannot predict teenagers’ attitudes or reactions. Imagine if I told her she had to go to school on a freezing cold day in only trousers and a polo shirt, you can imagine the response. Sometimes you just can’t win.

We will be exploring this further on the Surviving Teenagers Programme in February, I am delighted that this Programme is now fully subscribed and I am looking forward to the first session.