Family really does matter even when you're angry

They drive you mad but you love every wonderful and annoying little piece of them.

At times they can be infuriating. All those disagreements and the clashing of personalities or even worse if you are too similar and stubborn. Despite all that though, your parents know you inside out and back to front and love you unconditionally.

Thing is when you're young you're not really thinking about all the good bits during a big old family 'debate'. This is how it goes. The row starts with a question. It slowly simmers when the answer isn't the right one. It becomes a steady bubbling when the phrase 'why not?' and 'because I said so' are thrown into the ring. It culminates in a boiling mass, spilling over into shouting, tears and door slamming fuelled with rage and vitriol.

Families eh. You've gotta love them because when you get older you realise how lucky you are to have them. When all else goes wrong and you've been well and truly trodden into the pavement of life like a piece of discarded gum, they scrape you off and make things better.

My mum. Mothers and daughters, there's an indestructible relationship. She is my bestest buddy. My mum and I, we can talk for hours. We can go running, and chatter non stop for 13-miles and still find things to say when we meet up later in the day. She's my rational mind when my head is topsy turvy and upside down. She is honest when I'm not looking so good, but in a nice way.

She can juggle a zillion different things and still be in control. She is always bright and chirpy even when she probably feels miserable inside. She makes washing smell unbelievably good and folds it neatly when mine just looks like a crumpled heap. Phrases she used to say when I was younger such as, 'If in doubt don't', have now become essential mantras in my grown-up world of making decisions. She taught me that 'life's not fair'. How right she is. She also taught me when life isn't fair to be brave, carry on and to not let the bad things get the better of me.

My dad, on the other hand, is my best friend in a whole different way. He's practical and logical and has always told me the small stuff isn't worth all the worry and tears and decades later I've just realised how right he is. (Stop puffing out your chest and nodding your head dad, it's in writing, you're right).

He's also the gadget wizard who can set up a computer, with leads going in and out, in a second while I'm still figuring out which end goes where. He's the DIY master who taught me how to create pieces of furniture from a flat pack of wood, and a few nuts and bolts.

His organised ways have seeped into my subconscious so now, I too, do things such as when I have a new household item, I put the date I bought it on its manual. He has also taught me to spend a bit of money on such items, after all a five pound toaster will probably last, well, five minutes. I know when is not a good time to ask him a question and he knows that I usually want something when I start the conversation with: "Daaaad..."

Over the years I've come to realise how important my mum and dad are. They've always been there for me at the end of a phone or a short drive away, full of advice and words of wisdom. The thought that one day they won't be there doesn't bear thinking about.

The only thing I think they have learned from me is that when you have children you worry a lot, you're a bank and taxi service open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and children are a job for life, you can't retire.

Still, they can feel safe in the knowledge that one day it will come full circle. I will look after them, get their shopping, do the worrying, ferry them about in the car when they become a liability on the roads and be telling them to 'stop doing that you're embarrassing yourself'.