Who's The Daddy: Our children are carbon copies of ourselves

It’s one of the reasons why ladies of a certain age, when they catch a glimpse of themselves in a mirror, say a startled “Mum?” to themselves when they think no one’s looking.Men aren’t immune from this phenomenon either, as one of Steve Coogan’s less successful characters Tommy Saxondale pointed out: “We all turn into our dads.”And so it has proved with daughter #1 who has literally followed in her mum and dad’s footsteps by signing up for a half marathon this spring.Twelve years ago a mate talked me into doing the Great North Run. In my defence I was drunk and didn’t feel I could weasel out of it once I’d sobered up. And anyway, I did it the next two years after that as well so it can’t have been so bad.The boss ran from Newcastle to South Shields via Gateshead on one of the hottest September days in decades five years ago, about half an hour faster than yours truly ever managed, so maybe that’s what inspired daughter #1 to go on the run.As anyone who has ever gone all in on one of these events will tell you, if you’ve done the training the event itself can feel almost pleasant. The miles you put in during three months of training are like money in the bank.You can wing it, but running low on juice with the finish line five miles away is a very lonely place indeed.Luckily for daughter #1 she has her mum’s work ethic and her dad’s sheer bloody-mindedness. Which both come in handy when early motivation runs dry (first time it rains) and habit kicks in.Diet plays an important part too. You can’t outrun a bad diet, God knows we’ve all tried, and daughter #1 has been sampling the delights of cooking salmon in her flat for the first time.The last time I cooked it for us all was when the kids were still at school and, honestly, there’s less fuss made during Bushtucker Trials on I’m A Celeb. Sicky noises, pretend retching and fake tears.

Now, incredibly, daughter #1 says she loved it.

Turns out adult kids are a lot less picky about what’s for tea when they have to buy and cook their own.