Occasionally I sit down with a pen and paper to write a “To Do List” or shopping list, that I will inevitably leave on the side of the kitchen whilst I visit Aldi, grabbing at snorkels and avocados completely baffled.

But on these list writing occasions I am usually sat at the kitchen table or on the sofa and have a pen and paper in my hand, which is like some sort of homing call to my kids because the second my bum is perched on a chair they will seek me out. When Ewan was three I was sitting writing one day and as he came to join me I decided to do a quick game to help him with his numbers. At the time he had nailed counting from 1-10 but still got confused with the order of 11-20.

So I wrote 1-20 randomly on the page with circles around them. He asked me what I was doing. I said “I’m making a number spider web, would you like to help?’ He did. So at first he just helped with counting and guessing the next number while I connected the circled numbers with lines. I made it seem like it was tricky to join them up so we laughed at “Silly Mummy” and her squiggly lines. Then after a while he wanted to join them up himself and took the pen so we got some pen grip/fine motor skills practise in too. It’s moments like this where my heart leaps – a quick and easy win!

He got bored halfway through the second web and pottered off and I continued to write my “To Do” list in peace. A perfect example of how five minutes is enough!