Lessons in parenting: part 1

Tuesday is always a long day.
I leave home at 7.30am to walk to the train station.
I work all day and then get the train home again.
My mother and father-in-law, who kindly look after the children on Tuesdays, pick me up from the station and drive me and my daughter to her swimming club.
I deposit her in the pool and then run across the grounds to get changed for my Pilates class.
The instructor is very tough.
She makes us do the plank and roll down to push ups and shoulder bridges and the 100.
But we do get a few minutes relaxation at the end.
Then I go back to the pool.
My daughter has usually left her coat in the changing room.
I wait while she goes to get it.
And then we start the long walk home.
And we usually fall out.
She dawdles behind me. She drags her feet. She gets grumpy when I ask her a question. She strops. I snap. She sulks. I moan.
She's tired from an hour of intensive swimming.
I'm tired after a day at work.
We're both hungry.
We don't get home until at least 8.30pm.
But this week it was different.
We walked home together amicably. We chatted about school and swimming and our plans for the weekend.
As I put her bed later I remarked upon this change and thanked her for making the evening so much more pleasant. I must have wondered aloud about how it was different.
"Well mummy," she said. "YOU didn't do anything to ANNOY me this week."