‘My girl must think she is a mermaid - she loves the water’

Because if you get her anywhere near water she is straight in there, whether I am prepared for it or not.

Of course that means a constant trail of wet clothes or watery footprints wherever we go as I struggle to get her out of the sea, paddling pool, bath or nearest puddle.

Her obsession with water means that whenever we go swimming she spends more time under the water than she does on top!

And the warm weather has meant the paddling pool has been put to good use - goggles of course being among the essential toys needed.

But this week her water obsession was a (semi) welcome sight as we were able to take our first evening stroll on the beach in what has felt like forever.

Now, living a stone’s throw away from the sea means we have always been frequent visitors to our local beach. So it was wonderful to get back there for what was supposed to be an evening walk.

Of course I was expecting our walk would feature a spot of stone ‘skimming’ - my son’s favourite pastime - as well as a bit of a paddle as we walked along the shoreline.

But of course I should have known my girl would instinctively have wanted to take it one (ish) step further.

A splashy walk through the water turned into a walk up to her ankles, then her knees, followed by shouts of ‘have you brought my swimming costume mum?’.

Er, no love. At 7.30pm I was not expecting you to go for a swim!

Needless to say my girl was soaked through and my home was full of soggy clothes, sand and seashells in no time.

So, situation normal then.

And actually that is what was so lovely about being able to get back by the sea, if only for a little while.

It may be a while longer until we get to spend the day at the beach, building sandcastles and going for a swim.

But at least my little mermaid managed to get her water fix to tide her over..... for now.