You threw a ball into my office yesterday and I told you never to do it again because it might break my computer. You said, “But your computer didn’t get broken.”

I told you it could have.

You said, “But I didn’t throw the ball in your office, Mummy.”

I became exasperated at this point and said, “I SAW you do it, Ella!”

You mumbled something and your lip started trembling. I knelt down and asked you to repeat what you’d said because I didn’t hear.

You burst into tears and cried, “When you get mad, I get SAAAAAD!”

Luckily you were on your way out the door with Daddy to go swimming, so you couldn’t see that I was crying too. I hate it when you cry – it breaks my heart every time. But mummies have to be firm.