"Why can't I stay up later? Everybody else's mother lets them," is daughter's usual response when told it is time for her to go to bed.

"I don't care what everybody else's mother lets them do" is my response.

Apart from the fact that I doubt very much that everybody else's mother lets their daughters stay up until midnight on a school night, I know how hard it is to get daughter out of bed in the mornings.

Also occasionally I want to watch something on TV that is definitely unsuitable for 12-year-olds and I don't see why I should miss it just because daughter is feeling hard done by.

We seem to be always arguing about things that I won't let her do. I guess it's a sign of her growing independence.

We have the argument about why she isn't allowed to stay up ridiculously late. We have the argument about why she isn't allowed to walk the dog on her own in the park late in the evening.

Then we argue about why she's not allowed to spend her Saturdays hanging round Churchill Square or other more unsavoury parts of town.

Another area of contention is make-up. This started as being allowed to wear a bit of eye shadow if she was going to a party but I have noticed bits of blusher and glitter appearing every weekend.

Apart from the fact that she really doesn't need to wear any at her age, it makes her look scarily older and I worry about the sort of attention she may attract.

Anyway I just cannot see the need to paint one's face just to go to the supermarket with me.

I think she has a reasonable amount of freedom. I guess it's natural for her to want to branch out but the constant arguing makes me feel like a restrictive Victorian mother, which I know I'm not really.