Things a mother should know: how to comfort a son without exactly saying Daddy was wrong.

I suppose we all share this pipe-dream of being able to reach out a hand and find anything at will; what is amazing is that we think that good filing could somehow make it comes true. On the contrary: putting a letter into a filing system is like releasing your ferret in the Hampton Court maze.

Does anybody who gave up smoking to save a pound a week have a pound at the end of the week? Not on your life.

And what would happen to my illusion that I am a force for order in the home if I wasn't married to the only man north of the Tiber who is even untidier than I am?

A food is not necessarily essential just because your child hates it.

No nice men are good at getting taxis.

I cannot for the life of me see why the umpires, the only two people on a cricket field who are not going to get grass stains on their knees, are the only two people allowed to wear dark trousers.