Housework. Liebling loves to help me at the supermarket, sweep the floor, hand me washing to peg out, cook (not just baking, which we do, but he will cook meals with me), that sort of thing.

We're not completely TV-free but Liebs only really gets it when I'm ill, or when DH is away with work for a week and we have a movie night - or I need an hour to myself.

We also have challenges, like who can build the biggest tower of bricks, or race from the bathroom to the tent, or playing hide and seek (I love this when I'm Liebling'd out; I get loads of time on my own!). We sit in the tent (a baby tent or a blanket over two chairs) and read books. We play pretend. We go for walks, to the park or to the farm.

DS also likes to pretend he's a cat. So long as you stroke him every now and then he's happy. Doctors is another favourite. Pretending to be a steam train. Playing hairdressers. Best to look in a mirror before you go out when you play that one with a toddler.

My favourite is reading. DS and I will sit curled up on opposite ends of the sofa and read. He has his book and I have mine. Joy and peace and setting up good life habits. Poor Liebling gets Radio 4 and back issues of Private Eye some Saturdays. I'd have loved it as a child... maybe not as a toddler. But Liebs loves it because he's being just like me. He likes reading his books to me and is near word-perfect on some of them.

Liebs can play alone now, but he did have to be taught how to do it.