.... when we haven't had any snow right through the winter up till now? There's one in the eye for the global warming brigade!

We had a very quiet time at home - not really wanting to venture outside in the (extremely changeable) weather conditions. I had a bit of a lucky escape on Sunday when I realised that my DD was expecting the Easter Bunny to do a bit of a Santa thing and leave her Easter egg by surprise where she could find it.

I don't remember instructing her in that particular ritual and we've never done it before, but she must have picked it up from school or somewhere. However I managed to sneak it out past her and put it somewhere she hadn't been already where she duly discovered it five minutes later.

Belief in mystical beings restored for one more time - phew!

Sometimes I find it quite exhausting and also a bit sad being the parent of an extremely bright little girl. She is deeply suspicious about the existence of Santa and we had to concoct ever more complicated webs of stories to suspend her disbelief. She's in danger of losing faith in the tooth fairy before she even loses her first tooth. And when I tried the House Fairy programme (www.housefairy.org - premise is that you aka 'House Fairy' leave gifts and letters in the child's room when they keep it tidy0 she saw through it straight away and I had to admit that yes it was me - pretending to be a fairy - although that didn't mean that there are no fairies......

We are also starting to have deep religious discussions. We are bringing the children up as practising Catholics and she attends a Catholic school, but she treats the more miraculous elements of the New Testament with the same healthy scepticism she has for the other mythical beings mentioned above.

Is it just rose-tinted specs on my part? I'm sure I remained innocent, truting and childlike till 9 or 10 at least? I'm not prepared to let go of the childhood fantasies yet - she's only five.....