Sunday 22nd November

The weekend is not going well - hot on the heels of parents evening comes the Frost Fair at Rose's school. The school is dressed for Christmas, it's a frenzy of Santa's grotto, mince pies, presents to buy and healthy children everywhere. Rose is in a state of feverish over excitement and I feel sick to my toes just to be there. I stand paralysed among hundreds of parents listening to the senior school girls singing carols unable to move or speak. I play this-time-last-year and this-time-next-year in my head. Eventually I coax her away with a present from Santa and we go back to Dulwich College to the rugby where I feel a lot safer.