We were used to drama over Christmas when daughter lived at home. These ranged from visits to A&E – for example, she would claim to be in agony yet the medical people could find nothing wrong, so you never knew what to think – to visits from the Police, either when she was thought to have done something, or when she’d decided to stay out all night.

Even though she has now left home, the crises haven’t totally gone away. I mean, it is better now since we (the parents) are not directly involved, so ultimately we can shrug our shoulders, but it is nevertheless exasperating – my wife and I have over a century of life experience between us, yet daughter insists on making every mistake for herself.

This time, it is her motorbike. A brief history – daughter couldn’t wait to get a bike and bought her first…