“What do you want on your toast?” I asked the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine as I buttered his bread this morning. “Whatever, something nice,” He replied. I reached for a jar of marmalade. And then it hit me. Does my husband like marmalade? Why don’t I know if my husband likes marmalade?!

Our first family breakfast brought home quite a few revelations this morning.

Having worked on a contract that saw me leave the house by 4.30am for the past 18 months, I’ve not been privy to the weekly early morning routine in our house. While my husband battled to dress a sleepy toddler and get her to nursery, before arriving at work on time, I was talking on the radio. I am clueless to the routine, or what to do.

It turns out my daughter is a big fan of Shreddies on a weekday morning. At weekends she likes boiled egg, but Monday to Friday it’s all about Shreddies. My husband can’t stand marmalade. He absolutely detests the stuff. Who knew?

I’ve also learned that my natural body clock seems to be set for just after 6am. When an alarm isn’t ripping into my sleep at 3.45am I can quite happily sleep all the way through the night and wake feeling rested. I now know what it’s like to start a day on eight hours of sleep rather than four. I feel normal.

Another revelation: when we’ve all slept, aren’t in a rush and are on time, we actually like each other. Ten minutes eating a slice of toast and slurping tea (but not the husband – he doesn’t like tea either, who knew?) is quite a pleasant experience, when we’re all together. It’s possible to have a meal time conversation that doesn’t involve a grumpy toddler wailing or fractious parents snapping at each other. Again, who knew?!

I’m enjoying learning these things about my family as we begin the next phase. (P.S. Remind me to tick marmalade off the shopping list – I can’t stand the stuff either.)

I can’t believe I married a man who doesn’t like tea though, what a weirdo.