Rubber Duckie I'm awfully fond of you

My husband and I smile knowlingly at my daughter's little quirks.

But today, I looked at these duckies and realised where she gets it from.

When my baby boy was 5 weeks old, my husband was made redundant. I still remember him walking in the door, and I knew the minute I looked at him at 10.50 am in the morning, exactly what had happened.

We did what we had to do, and I ended my maternity leave and went back to work.

The morning I left for the first time, I cried all the way to the bus stop. Once I was there, it was business as normal. I do thrive in a working environment, so it wasn't too much of a problem. I was still breastfeeding, so every couple of hours, I would head off to the toilet (it was a very male dominated office), and express some milk. OMG, I can actually feed the tug as I write that.

That first week, I bought these duckies. A Mum and her two babies.

These Duckies have come with us through Glasgow, Symington, stop off at Grans, for a month or so, and then home here. Yes, 19 years this year.

In all the time we have had them. They have not sat apart. I cannot arrange them in the bathroom at opposite ends or opposite sides of the bath. They are a threesome, and they need to be together. If I go to the loo and notice that someone has separated them, - I put them back together.

It would never do to have one closer to the mum than the other. I don't want one to feel less loved. They are always equidistant. Mum in the middle of the taps, and babies to either side, or groups like this. The Babies can be together alone, but one cannot be with the mum, while the other isn't.

It's not only the ducks I have the problem with. I cannot leave beans in the tin - every single bean has to reach it's potential. And I don't even like beans.

Yes, when I look at it, my daughter has learned her quirks from the master.

Sorry Petal.