There are many of us out there that are sparse on time. For whatever reason, babies to look after, parents to look after, or careers to look after or just the fact that we live in 2015. It makes the time we do have to ourselves all the more precious, particularly if the only thing between freedom and being back to the grind is a smelly nappy or a poorly timed work email.

 It is since my spare time has become downsized by baby Milsy that I have I have found I really want to make it count- as if the two hours between her bedtime and my own is its very own mini new year’s eve that is to be lived to the full. “No regrets!” “Should all the washing be forgot, and never brought to mind?” and so on, you get the picture.

 Now, within this time it would be so easy for me to switch on a film, and comatose myself in front of couples falling in love, secret agents walking away from explosions or women with perfect hair rushing around an iconic city in heels. But I feel I would be cheating myself out of the whole point in making the most of this time. This is not to say that I do not love a film, I adore a movie, but when you’re knackered at the end of the day and all you have had to challenge your brain is a treasure hunt for the shoe your kid has managed to vanish into thin air- it is paramount to engage the old brain.

So I tuck myself into bed and get stuck into some well put together words. I think how much easier it would be to watch the screen adaptation of whatever I am reading, if one exists, but I would be robbing myself of something much more rewarding of a weekday evening. There are a million reasons to pick up a book, but the practical reasons alone make the choice an easy one for me:

1. If I fall asleep halfway through my chapter my thoughtful little book doesn’t carry on without me.
2. There’s a power cut- it’s a free reading sesh, providing a torch, streetlight or fully charged mobile is to hand.
3. I get writer’s envy, leaving me with no choice but to shove some words together myself- well put together or otherwise.
4. When you have a poorly baby who will stir on hearing the smallest sound- reading is a much safer option than a slapstick comedy that sets her off with loud crashes bangs and wallops.
5. If the worst does happen and Milsy wakes up in the middle of my downtime I can send her back off to sleep without having to pause; reading out loud will do the trick.
6. A movie can never live up to a good imagination, I will always love my own version of Hogwarts more, even if Dawn French didn’t feature.
7. Reading a thick book takes both hands which makes it much harder to over-indulge on custard creams.
8. You can get away with selective hearing, “Sorry Love I didn’t hear Milsy wake up for a nappy change, but as you’re already halfway through I’ll leave you to it.”
9. If I have the inclination to immerse myself in a bath I won’t cry over dropping a novel in there- I will cry if I drop my laptop.
10. In a pinch I have never turned to a film, but always to my favourite book. Many a time I have asked the wonderful Ms Moran How to be a woman.