Paint

"At all times there must be absolute equity"... this apparently is the golden parenting rule, when you have two boys amongst your collection of offspring. So, having completed the decoration of "Boris'" room; attacking "Norris'" one very shortly thereafter was not a choice to be made, but a job to be done! The house stinks of paint, I stink of paint, all 'Norris' clothes and toys are stacked around the house, (which is descending into chaos), while 'Norris' himself has taken up residence on the floor of our bedroom - a position from which he was last dispatched when he was but a few weeks old!

Decorating is a dreadful job. Messy, malodorous, annoying, expensive, time-consuming and frustrating enough to either purge the mind of any perfectionist tendencies, or alternatively propel a die-hard perfectionist into apoplexy or therapy . Unlike almost every other type of housework however - decorating is something which makes a real difference to the way the house feels, does give a sense of satisfaction in its completion, and which doesn't need to be repeated again within 24hrs!