Mum to so many

Andy Hider, 74, Bristol

Struggling to hold back snorts of laughter, I watched as the kids piled on top of a mattress, one by one, and slid down the stairs in fits of giggles.

I’d been intending to take it to the dump.

Instead, I’d been cornered by a horde of excitable teenagers before I’d had the chance.

They’d spent the last hour sliding down the stairs on it.

‘OK, that’s enough!’ I pleaded, trying to sound stern.

There was nothing in the world