[Sundae]

My parents were very teeth-conscious, having had bad trouble with their own teeth. Our sugar intake was very carefully monitored - sweets, fizzy drinks, chocolate and ice cream were rarely in the house. Even squash (concentrated fruit drink diluted with water) and biscuits were kept out of our reach and dispensed by Mum.

Also, growing up in the '70s to working class parents meant that money was limited so meals were filling and nutritious and the concept of snacking virtually non-existent. It was a real culture shock to go to a friend's house and watch her help herself to Cheddars (cheese biscuits) or a packet of crisps from the cupboard. If we were hungry we waited for dinner. If we had had dinner it was tough, we should have eaten more at the table.

So we didn't hide sweets/ snacks and eat them in our rooms. But if we were given an errand to run we sneaked off to the sweetshop and blew our pocket money on rubbish, and gorged ourselves all the way home. We took the long way back to avoid going past Mum's friend's house, in case she saw us. We'd go into our next neighbour's garden to put the evidence in the bin before arriving home all innocent.

I think sneakiness is part of being a child. Like riding on the crossbar of your friend's bike - you know it's wrong, you know why it's wrong, you wouldn't want your Mum to know - but oooooh, it's just so good!

I honestly wouldn't worry about the deceit.