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What is Mother’s Day all about? Surely it is about your kids taking time to show a bit of appreciation for all the things you have given up for them and all the things you do for them. Yesterday was Mother’s Day in the UK. I thought my kids might remember, especially as two of them actually live in the UK and naturally, I had dropped several hints.

I got a text message from my daughter in the morning My teenage son was having a teenage strop because I refused to lie to his school so that he could go out clubbing all night next weekend; he begrudgingly sent a Mother’s Day message after I did the right thing and sent him a message wishing him luck for a football match he was playing in. My younger son completely forgot and when I reminded him, just went off on a rant about there not being a day dedicated to sons. I tried to point out that 364 days a year are, in fact, decided to children but he was having none of it. So 364 became 365. I decided it was time to leave the country…

I came to London for a few days to see the other kids. Oh joy! When I got here last night my daughter was quick to tell me that she had bought me a pressie for Mother’s Day. For a nano second, I was quite excited. Then she showed me a dress she had bought from Ted Baker. I didn’t really know what to say. It was too short, too revealing and about 20 years too young for me! She tried to convince me that she had definitely not bought it for herself, as it was far too long for her to wear. I might have been convinced if she had not added, but could she just borrow it next Saturday night. I knew she didn’t really buy it for me and it was only a matter of time before I would be persuaded to pay for it as well!

All in all a bit of a Mother’s Day equivalent of the Tories’ Black Wednesday. However, someone who possibly had a worse day than me was David Beckham’s mother when she heard the news last night about his Achilles tendon injury. I heard it on the radio but was too tired to take it in at first. Then I thought, I love Beckham, (who doesn’t?), but probably not as much as his mother. Anyone with an ounce of maternal instincts cannot help but feel real sympathy for him this morning at the realisation that Beckham will not be going to the world cup this year and may never play again. OMG, so sad!

Reasons to love Beckham, even if you are not his mother: His stoppage-time free kick against Greece that sent England to the 2002 world cup was one of the great sporting moments of the decade for any England fan. His ability to reinvent himself after the sending off against Argentina in 1998 to come back and achieve his dream of captaining England. His winning penalty against Argentina in the 2002 World Cup. His resignation speech in 2006, that made me cry. The Comic Relief interview with Ali G.