Looking ‘I had to buy a new office!’
Jade Sammour, 35, from Chelmsford, Essex, is a jewellery designer and lives with her husband Jamille, 31, and their two daughters, Soraya, three, and Attia, two
around my shedcum-office, with its newly uneven walls, botched panels and blobs of glue everywhere, my heart sank. ‘ What do you think?’ Jamille prompted proudly. Unable to burst his bubble, I forced a smile and nodded. ‘Excellent!’ I managed.
But as we left and closed the door, we heard a series of loud thumps. All of the panels had fallen off the walls, one by one. ‘Oh no!’ Jamille groaned, slapping his forehead. ‘I messed up again, didn’t I?’
Ever since Jamille and I moved in together six years ago, he’d always been extremely enthusiastic about DIY. ‘My parents were divorced, so I did everything at Mum’s,’ he told me confidently.
But as he got started, I realised his talent didn’t quite match his talk. It didn’t matter when it was wonky pictures. But when it came to his first big job, putting up the curtains, he put the wrong wall plugs in the plaster wall and the pole crashed to the floor. When he filled the gaping holes with Polyfilla, I winced at the mess.
When Soraya and Attia arrived and Jamille offered to put up a shelf, he convinced me he’d do it properly. He spent hours going to B&Q for a spirit level and measuring up – but it was still so lop-sided, their soft toys slid off into the cots.
During lockdown, I invested in a posh shed to use as an office for my jewellery design business, but by November, it was freezing. ‘I need to get someone to install some insulation,’ I mentioned. ‘I can do that, Babe,’ Jamille offered.
I should have known better… because even after spending £350 on materials and watching countless YouTube videos, it still went horribly wrong.
It was so bad, I had to buy a whole new shed. The only good news is that Jamille has finally resigned himself to giving up DIY for good!
Growing up, my daughter and my best friend’s son were inseparable. Now her son is an extremely successful entrepreneur – which is amazing. My daughter, who studied linguistics, is freelancing and still struggling to find that dream job. The way my friend shows off about her son’s achievements constantly, in front of my daughter, feels pointed and it upsets my daughter terribly. With Covid-19 especially, she’s had a terrible year and so many unsuccessful interviews. Is my friend deliberately rubbing it in? I feel there’s a sensitivity chip missing! Helena, Poole
She’s supposed to be your friend. So treat her like one. Gently tell her you are thrilled to bits that her son’s a soar-away sensation, but things are so tough for your daughter right now that hearing about it endlessly is taking its toll. Say you’d be delighted to chat about her son’s achievements but only out of earshot of your understandably anxious daughter. If she’s a real friend, she’ll not only understand but have the good grace to apologise for trampling all over your daughter’s feelings. Good luck.