One of the best things about having the weekend together last week was having the time to hang out and all go get a meal together without clock-watching. The hour or so drive between us doesn’t sound too bad in theory but as it’s mostly motorway-style driving it can be quite draining. Being able to retire to the hotel and eat at the restaurant therefore was a wonderful luxury.

We’re lucky enough to look relatively young – good genes as we call it – and normally this isn’t anything more than a nice bonus when people tell me I don’t look old enough to have a daughter at university.

On our first evening though, Lady S was asked to prove her age under the Premier Inn’s 25 age check policy as we’d ordered wine with our meal. She was mortified to find she hadn’t brought anything suitable with her but was reassured by the manager that it was alright as we were eating. The query had been raised by our trainee waitress in passing so it was a good training moment for her.

Then Lady S asked how old the waitress thought she was, and was somewhat flabbergasted to hear the age 17 quoted back to her. Flabbergasted and amused enough to threaten to show her C-section scar for her seven year old son.

The teasing continued through the evening from there, and fortunately the manager had a robust sense of humour when Lady S started saying things like “Mum, Dad, can I have some more wine?” as any staff came near.

The meal was good though, and it has at least given us teasing material on all fronts.