The thing is, how to maintain enthusiasm or progress when you have little or no reward? You need a source of fuel to keep up the supply for your "motivation engine". I find this tough. Tough because there are people in my life with better options and opportunities, yet they will take any opportunity to explain to me why they are unable to be happy. This I don't mind.I just wish that sometimes I would hear about the good things, about the blessings and the smiles. Too much negativity makes any experience worthless and tiresome. Far better to enjoy 1 plain biscuit with your tea than to have 3 chocolate biscuits which you don't appreciate and savour. Every blessing is precious.

Talking of blessings, my cousin Erica paid us a visit last week for 5 days. She was a ray of light. The time we had ended far too soon and her bond and obvious pleasure with meeting the children made me feel very grateful and ever so slightly homesick. Equally, the love and closeness felt by the children, especially the girls, very good to see.

I remember well the love I received as a youngster, on a visit to her family, about 30 years ago. This had an important role in my life. Reassurance and love with demonstrative care is a sustaining positive influence in life and can have a powerful effect if it is within the broader family.

Erica left on Saturday and on Sunday morning I was due to drop Alex at football and take the girls back home. Well for a change we were ahead of matters, on a bright, crisp Sunday morning. They were packed up, finished with their chores and were having fun taking snaps of themselves on the trampoline when I called them in for a quick cuppa before leaving. It was after this that things went wrong...

We were all in the car ready to go and the car wouldn't start, flat battery! I immediately told Alex to phone Colleen to see if she could help. We got out the car.

Colleen had plans and was reluctant to change them. Having told the coach we would be late we got hold of the roadside assistance for my car (Chrysler offer this as standard) . They indicated that we would have less than an hour wait. With that, I called the kids together and offered the option of a fun day in the sun with Ice Cream later or a long drive to take Alex to play his match. I was genuinely surprised that without hesitation the girls chose football. They offered this simple explanation when quizzed, "It's too important to Alex!"

One look at his face would have told anyone that.