Trying to get daughter out of bed in the mornings in cold weather is a nightmare.

I usually give her the first shout at about 7am. This consists of "It's time to get up sweetheart," said in a reasonable tone.

This usually provokes no response.

A second shout, much less reasonable and much more assertive, of "Get up please," at five past results in a reluctant groan.

At this point I go downstairs and put the kettle on.

By quarter past she usually has still not appeared so I shout again, this time more loudly. I also start threatening things.

If she doesn't appear in the next five minutes I revert to plan B and send Sam the dog up to her room.

This can be a most effective move as Sam likes to eat all of her belongings and only getting out of bed extremely swiftly will stop him.

However, sometimes Sam decides to curl up on top of her duvet and go back to sleep himself.

In this case, I end up standing at the bottom of the stairs screeching threats and dire warnings about what will happen if she doesn't get up.

Spending my time getting her up means I am then running late.

We were leaving the house the other day and I was still trying to put my lipstick on and fasten my shoes as we went out the door. "Hang on, I'm not ready yet," I said. "Should get up earlier then, shouldn't you," was her smug reply.

Well, Day 36 today and still not smoking so I hope you are proud of me.

My mother says the only reason I have stayed off them this time is because I know I run the risk of ridicule from most of Brighton if I slip up. There's some truth in that I must agree.