Seeing your children exert their will is exhilarating, initially. Thereafter – let us be completely honest – these young expressions of self-determination can, at times, serve to test rather than enhance parental devotion.

I had always been faintly perturbed by people insisting on how important it is to show your child that you are the grown up and they the child; a code, you see, for these children having to get used to doing exactly what their parents tell them to do. Unfairly probably, but never mind, the attitude reminded me of certain dog owners who, with their sharp voices and ludicrous threats, seem to revel in simply being master of another creature. I did not want my children following rules created for rules’ sake, nor behaving in any overly prescribed way. So far so liberal. 

That was, however, until I found myself stood in front of the changing table locked in lengthy and complex negotiations with my half-clad, two-year-old daughter. “No, woof woof nappy,” she said fixing me with her steely eyes. “But there aren’t any nappies with pictures of dogs left in the pack. You can wear one next time, before bedtime.” This was my halfway position. “No, woof woof nappy.” Her look and her resolve hardened. The exchange continued with offers of all the animals in the pack, and even the promise of a biscuit when we’d completed the job, but to no avail. Ten minutes in, I surrended and opened the new pack. She granted me a smile.

A sparky child, I have always felt rather proud of seeing her charge off to the opposite corner of the playground with her own clear intentions in mind, and of her distinctly purposeful disregard for most of our and other people’s suggestions. I admire her pluck and will, neither of which I would ever want to risk breaking. But then, when for a second and a third time I found myself scrabbling round in the cupboard for a specific nappy, my liberal principles began to waver.

Surely there is a line. And given that roughly only one in five nappies in the packs we buy is a woof woof nappy – my attempts at passing a cow off for a dog failed miserably – this could well be it. I am the grown up after all, and she the child. Or, possibly, it is simply an indication that we are ready to embark on a new adventure – potty training, which is another form of self-determination after all.