I have decided that, as a busy working mother, if I want to spend time with my children, I need to find things I can do with them. I mean things that I would also otherwise be doing, such as playing tennis. The obvious candidate for tennis is of course our very own sporting hero, Leo. And in fact any other sport, such as throwing a rugby ball back and forth for an hour (yes I did this, very good for toning the arms) or trying to do keepy uppies (his record is five, mine is one) or watching football or tennis on TV.

With Bea, I have stretching and yoga. I am thrilled to announce that she, just like her sister Julia did at her age, has discovered gymnastics. And she is brilliant at it. She even opens the fridge door with her foot (check out my Facebook page for the video). We spend ages doing forward bends together and getting into impossible yoga poses, ideal. She is SO flexible, she can do all the things I can’t do (such as open the fridge door with her foot). Her back and front walkovers are a sight to behold.

Olivia has proved trickier. She likes skiing, which is not exactly easy here and which I hate, even in the sublime surroundings of the Alps. I tried to get her into tennis too with no joy. But we have discovered that we both love lying on her bed, holding hands and watching DVDs. At the moment we are watching the classic BBC Pride & Prejudice. “I love it so much, mummy,” she told me the other day. “Do they have a Season Two?”

I wish……that’s what I call quality time.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2011