When I was a kid I made my mum a personalised paperweight for her desk. It was essentially a stick. I thought that it looked a bit like a snake, so I painted it bright orange and then carefully painted ‘mum’ in black letters across the snake’s belly. I remember being so damn proud of that snake. I couldn’t wait to give it to her.

My mum, to her credit, kept the snake paperweight for years (maybe she still has it in a cardboard box somewhere). When I saw it on her desk it made me happy – my mum was the most wonderful person in the world and I’d made her something special.

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