Ah the things you scorn parents for when you are not yet a parent yourself. I recall seeing tantuming children in shops and feeling appalled by the parents who resorted to bribery to quiet them. How times have changed! Sophia now owns yet another teddy bear, purchased entirely as a bribe to buy me time to look around our local Borders which, having gone into administration, is having a huge closing down sale. She got to drag Barney around the store in her shopping basket, I got 30 minutes of relatively hassle free shopping for a fiver. Everyone was happy. I no longer judge parents the way I used to!