Let’s do this together

Obviously my parenting book won’t be coming out anytime soon, but one reader, Matthew Mills, got in touch to say how he used to read the advice from legendary Daily Mirror agony aunt Marjorie Proops.

In one of her last Dear Marje columns, she wrote: “After careful consideration and answering family problems for many years, my conclusion is you tell your kids you hate them before they become teenagers, before they tell you they hate you!”

Taking Marje’s tough love approach on board, Matthew, of Torbay, Devon, continues: “Reading about your struggles with The Dark Lord reminds me of the time one of my daughters threatened to leave home if her younger brother didn’t take a turn to do the dishes and help to tidy up.

“My wife packed our daughter a bag and we drove her to town and were about to drop her off – where we knew we could drive around the block and watch over her – and she suddenly changed her mind saying it wasn’t fair about her brother, and we agreed to make him help.”

I hear you, Matthew, but some kids just don’t respond well to idle threats. I tried it once when The Dark Lord was about seven years old and she threatened to leave home one morning.

So I foolishly called her bluff and said, “Go on then!” And by the time I’d got out of the shower, she’d left the house and hitched a lift to school with a local mum – leaving me to call the police in a panic.

That one took some explaining, “Er, Officer, I seem to have lost my small child. Yes I realise I told her to leave, but…!”

Please keep your stories, memories and photos coming to siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk or write to Community Corner, PO Box 791, Winchester SO23 3RP.