Usually at this time on a Saturday, I am playing Scrabble.

Although she often takes an interminably long time with her turn, mother is quite good at the game, and proud of it. There's never a need to 'let her win' as we used to do with my father's mum.

Ah "we"! There's the rub. With my mum, there are never more than two players. Scrabble, IMHO, gets a bit dull if game by game there are only two of you. (Well, after a while it gets dull, period. And by 6pm I'm working out if the game goes on much longer I will miss the 19.10 from Guildford...)

Anyway, more or less every Saturday, at the stage of the game when, because I haven't had the Q , it's odds on that she's been hoarding it, I say something to the effect of 'it would be be nice to play with a three or four people some time..." (In fact, as soon as my sitser arrives on aturday evening she wants to drive me to the station as soon as possible)

"Can you play Scrabble with more than two people?" she always asks, shocked. Horrified.

She fears the loss of control when it ceases to be one-to-one, even at mealtime. For so long she has been a Single Mother of two, separate Only Children.