Since having babies my bodycare regime has dwindled down to the absolute necessities; hacking through my plantations of leg hair once a month and making sure that my shins, which have a tendency to be as dry and crackled as ancient treasure maps, are regularly moisturised.
In pregnancy I oiled religiously. I scrubbed. I filed my feet. Whilst I could still see my toes, I painted the nails. Since the birth of child number two, two years and two months ago (that’s lots of twos!) I have oiled precisely four times, scrubbed no times and painted my toenails once. I didn’t even do it myself. I felt minor shame when the pedicurist unveiled my hornèd hooves and placed them in the water bath to soak – it must have been like manhandling a horse.
Anyway, the bodycare regime is currently still hovering at a “needs must” sort of level which is why I tend to do my body moisturising at the same time as I do the creams and lotions for the childrens’ skin. Angelica had eczema when she was a bit smaller and still gets quite dry and itchy skin on her legs, and Ted keeps showing the danger signs, so I try to make sure that I apply cream to both after bathtime.
(Incidentally, I only bathe them twice a week now, on skin doctor’s orders – it did a world of good for Angelica’s skin. Personally, the whole “nightly bathtime” routine was a recipe for disaster when it came to my babies’ skin!)

In my enthusiastic quest to find a...