Living in the west of Scotland has its benefits. The rolling hills, the beautiful scenery, the deep-fried Mars bars. It does however, have one major drawback – the weather. The weather in itself is no great problem. We Scots are a hardy bunch, so while the whole of London and the rest of South-East England go into lockdown for two or three flakes of snow, Scotland gets on with it. Come rain, shine or three feet of snow.

That being said, at this time of year cold and flu season is at its height, and the bad weather undoubtedly makes it a little more difficult to fight off these bugs. Today, that’s where I find myself. Little M is well-known in our house for bringing in bugs. In fact, all children of her age pick up bugs and rather generously pass them on. When they do, I get the bugs. I don’t like being sick.

When I do catch a bug from Little M though, I take a little comfort in the fact that every time she catches something, her immune system is learning to fight those bugs a little better. There’s a lot to be said for not bringing your child up in a completely sterile environment. So long as you keep your house clean, it’s OK if they pick up a piece of food they’ve dropped and put it straight in their mouths. It’s OK to get dirty when they go out to play.

So long as you’re not letting them play in the Ultra-Dangerous Haunted House of Knives and Fire, they’ll be OK.