SCHOOL mornings can be stressful. My kids have PhDs in passive resistance. Getting them fed, dressed and teeth cleaned is a challenge and, sometimes, everything kind-of gets on top of me.

The other day, when I’d finally got the kids squeezed into our tiny car, wedging them between my son’s enormous drum kit, and the cocker spaniel (who was off to the beauty parlour), I realised I hadn’t checked whether the iron was switched off.

Of course it was, but I had to go and check just in case.

Then, as we were pulling out of the driveway, I realised I’d left the back door open, at least I thought I might have, so I headed back into our house to check – making us even more late.

As we were finally heading down the road, I developed a nagging fear that I might have left a heater on in our bedroom. With visions of an electrical fault leading to a fire, my long-suffering husband had to turn back for another quick stop home.

And the worry doesn’t end. On the way to school I worried my five-year-old may not have cleaned her teeth; that she is having issues with another little girl at school; that my nine-year-old didn’t have enough breakfast and generally doesn’t want to eat his vegetables; and that we need to work more to help him with his reading and writing.

I didn’t used to be like this, a constant worrier. It’s crept up on me over the years. And I know I’m not alone. Talking to other mums I find their story is often the same.

I wonder whether our mothers worried like this or whether the angst is something particular to today’s women who are supposed to be trying to have it all: careers, families, a hectic social life and an effective personal-fitness regime.

But I do know I can’t let anxiety get too much of a foothold. It’s so easy to get caught up in worries and not pay enough attention to things such as what a beautiful autumn day it is, or that my son just told me how much he loves his new school, and that my daughter has painted the most beautiful picture of a rainbow.

So today I’m taking some time out just to decompress. I’m booking a massage and I’m having my nails done and meeting up with a friend. Then I’m going to pick up the kids and we’ll go and have ice cream. I’m not going to worry about tomorrow or revisit the things I did and didn’t do this morning, yesterday and last week. Just for today I’m going to enjoy the here and now.