• My Girls

    Practically perfect

    Ella puts on her new Frozen pyjamas for the first time. Runs into our bedroom: “I need to look in the mirror to see if I’m perfect.” “I’m perfect.” Runs back into her room and gets into bed.

  • My Girls

    Minor injuries

    Ella, 45 minutes after her bedtime, appears at the top of the holiday house (aka ski chalet) stairs wailing. “I hurt my eyebrow.” Mummy and Daddy unfortunately can’t completely stop themselves from laughing in her face.

  • My Girls

    Out of the mouths

    Ella to Mummy, in the middle of a nice weekend morning: “Mummy, I’m going to spike you with a fork and eat you for lunch.”

  • My Girls

    Biohazard

    Ella, on the potty. “I’ve done a smelly poo. You need some gloves… …We have special gloves?” (referring to the pretty floral gloves we keep in the kitchen for gardening)

  • Inspiration,  Work

    Hiring decisions

    Leslie Rowse, a historian of Elizabethan England, argued that the basic rule of academic life was that second-raters would always appoint third-raters over first-raters. Rowse’s rule now applies to politics on both sides of the parliamentary aisle.

  • My Girls

    Not allowed out

    I was going out in the evening to see some NCT friends for dinner. It was my first night out in 4 weeks.