THE GIRL WHO WAS AFRAID TO BE She speaks to me fondly of passions and talents, guitars and stars then stops short and apologise for speaking at all.

The author of The Kite Runner and And the Mountains Echoed touts the introduction of Stephen King's "The Body" as a poignant encapsulation of an author's limitations.

part of all this upheaval will involve me not being able to be with my sheep every day, in fact i will probably not be lucky enough to visit them that often. for a shepherdess with sheep at her very heart this is going to be awfully tough.. meet elton.... i was there when he was born i have watched him blossom in to this beautiful chap who is so so gentle i am struggling to think that i will not see him for a great length of time.. i know elton and all his friends will be safe and still under our care but its the day to day eye contact, the quietly being in the fields with them watching, checking that everyone is o.k, the smell of sheep, the sinking my fingers in to their deep beautiful fleece that i will miss.. i expect over the next few weeks my posts will mainly contain animal faces - apologies x

Adopt the art of parenting without saying no. Find a positive approach to handling your children and using positive rather than negative language choices.

What If? What if the person you need is the same person you cannot speak to when you need them the most.