Once at the supermarket, my toddler delighted in choosing some delicious treats for an indoor picnic. She perused the veg aisle and plumped for juicy red peppers with crisp cucumber. Her eyes wandered over the various types of coleslaw but she ignored them in favour of hummus and a pot of sour cream and chive dip.

We hurtled past the yoghurts and I really let her loose on the cheese. Usually we shop online or do the supermarket trip in a bit of a mad rush, so it was sweet to see her relishing the opportunity to take her choice so seriously. Eventually (I’ll admit, my super mum patience was wearing thin by this point) she picked Applewood smoked cheddar and wensleydale with apricots. Her taste is (unfortunately) by no means cheap.

We brought the bundle of goodies home, set up a blanket on the floor and some teddies, before taking our time over our lunch. My gunky-eyed girl spent a good ten minutes positioning the teddies in the “right” place – apparently there’s some kind of teddy politics I’m unaware of and they don’t all get on – and then sat down, patiently waiting for her servant mother to serve up the goods.

We ate, chatted and fed some of the pitta to a couple of the peckish teddies. Frog was in good spirits, laughing about eating lunch on the floor and constantly checking she wasn’t going to be in trouble for not sitting at the table.

My heart burst with that all-encompassing hit-you-in-the-stomach type of moments of love for her. I’m always floored by her continual ability to melt me to a puddle of mushy mum nostalgia.

I think we’ll do it again. Soon.

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