THERE is no denying the fact priorities change as you get older. Long gone are the days when all I cared about was getting home in time for Grange Hill or whether it was going to be butterscotch Angel Delight for afters.

I am also way past the stage of fretting about my fake ID being good enough to get me into the Zap or if the guy I fancied was going to the same party as me.

If anyone asked me for ID now, I would probably kiss them.

As for guys I fancy, obviously I do not find anyone else attractive aside from my husband... yes I am testing him to see if he is reading this.

My career became less of a priority the minute I had my son.

Now of course he is top of the list and no doubt will be for the next few decades.

My son. The cat. My husband. In that order.

I will definitely get grief for that one.

My other priorities in life, now I am in my mid-forties, are all the usual ones... looking after my health, taking care of my family and friends and never missing an episode of Corrie.

OK, maybe not that one so much, but it is pretty high on my list.

Over the past few years I have also become much more aware of how important my local community is to me.

In fact, now I feel part of one, I cannot ever imagine moving out to the sticks, for example, as the thought of being cut off from community life simply does not appeal any more.

We moved to our current home in West Hove seven years ago.

My son was a little over a year old and our priority then was to move out of our flat with limited space and into a house.

Of course, we checked up on the amenities in the area as we were keen to be able to easily entertain our child.

A park and plenty of baby groups were on the wish-list and we were mindful of the fact he would be at school in a few years, so that was also an important factor.

What had never really occurred to me back then was the importance of community.

We had heard positive things about the area when we started house-hunting, and I definitely remember asking the vendors about our next door neighbours-to-be, but I had not considered how much I would value feeling part of the wider neighbourhood.

Being able to pop to the shops for urgent supplies (for urgent, see Double Deckers and Pringles) was also high on our list and you cannot go wrong with a decent, kid-friendly pub up the road either.

These were all considerations for us, as was being in walking distance of the seafront. Tick.

Moving from a building containing four flats, where we really only knew those who shared our main front door, was about as community as it got in our previous home.

Where we are now is a completely different ball game. For a start I had totally underestimated how being a parent changes everything.

The moment we started frequenting the local park, joined toddler groups and when, at two and a half, our kid started pre-school, a whole new world opened up to us.

Suddenly we were really getting to know people who lived in the area and that has only gone from strength to strength over the years.

Despite really just being on the edge of the city, I genuinely feel like I live in a friendly little village.

People say hello as you pass them on the street, I now know most of the nearby shop and café staff by first name and I can genuinely knock on any number of doors to ask for a cup of sugar.

OK, so I never have asked for a cup of sugar, but I have put out a shout on WhatsApp for threadworm medication late on a Tuesday night before now and the goods arrived.

We will say no more about that one.

Do not get me wrong, the area has its faults.

Only this week someone tried to break into our car, there is enough dog poo on the pavements here to sink a ship and you only have to breathe in near the park at night to get high, but in the grand scheme of things it is a real pleasure to live here.

Some may think the art of community has long since been lost, but I am here to tell you it is alive and kicking. And like it or not, social media plays a big part in that.

Community pages where people can share local info and events really help to spread the word and bring people together.

Granted, you will always get a handful of idiots posting rude, unhelpful comments, but on the whole this can be a real lifeline and enable people to connect in a way they could not before.