I don’t do mornings and they don’t do me. I think this is a trait I have passed along to my daughter (more commonly known as the cave dweller). Take this morning for instance - the usual morning routine - my husband (bless his soul he IS a morning person) dresses my daughter while she is still asleep, carries her downstairs and puts her in the front room (which is dark - cave dwellers don’t appreciate light at this time of day!). If he is lucky, he can make it downstairs with her on his back with only a minimum amount of verbal abuse being hurled at him (we tell our friends she has Tourette’s). She sleeps there until it’s time to leave for school. I think she gains consciousness in the car on the way to school, during which time she must eat her breakfast, brush her hair, and argue with her sister (the latter being the most important).

By the time we walk into her classroom, the cave dweller has been replaced by a sweet, sunny, irrepressibly charming young girl … until tomorrow morning …