The soap

Growing up


The story so far ... Sarah Evans lives with her son Jacob, age 10, in Warrington. The pair have been a one-parent family since Sarah's relationship with Jacob's father broke down when their son was 11 months old. She qualified as a solicitor last September.

Jacob has been diagnosed with "Osgood-Schlatter" disease. It's not a serious condition, but it results in inflammation of the knees through over-wear, tending to hit boys between 11 and 15. He has been for a blood test at the hospital, which he was dreading because he's terrified of needles. His fear stems from a nasty injury sustained when he was in infant school which needed a lot of stitches to his head. He still talks about it now, and it has made him very distrustful of doctors and nurses bearing needles.

"He was very brave, though I had to really calm him," says Sarah. "He sat on my knee and we looked at a book while it was happening, but he took it very personally when it hurt. We were there for ages because they put this numbing cream on his arm to make it less painful, and he had a reaction to it and came up in big red lumps and bumps." Afterwards, they went to Borders bookshop and he got some trading cards as a reward. "By the time we got home we were worn out. We crashed on the sofa with a cup of tea and a video and fell asleep for an hour. I was supposed to be working from home for the rest of the day, but I only managed to start at 5.30pm!"

Sarah has been doing some research into Jacob's condition on the internet, and is hoping that the doctor will shed some light on it when they get the results of the test. "It seems to me that it's just over-wear and he should grow out of it." She's very relieved that it's not arthritis, because Jacob suffered from juvenile arthritis when he was a toddler and it was terrifying and so debilitating when it flared up.

"I've had a chat with him and told him that he's old enough to work it out for himself and that I trust him to get on with it. So if it's hurting he has to take it easy, and he needs to identify what makes it worse. It seems to be worse in the morning than in the evening. He insists football makes no difference, though I'm dubious." It's hard to predict, Sarah adds. Some days he's fine, running around like a hooligan, and the next he's not walking properly and really struggling.

"I suppose it's what we used to call growing pains. Jacob has been growing like mad, so it looks like his bones are growing faster than his muscles, which are then stretched and under pressure. I am probably the only parent hoping for terrible weather so that he has to stay in and give his knees a rest!"

Otherwise, Sarah notices the hormones are definitely starting to kick in. "I can see a minor personality change happening before my eyes sometimes. I'm not sure I'm ready for Jacob to go through puberty. And to top it off, he had his hair cut last week and the hairdresser said he would be shaving in a year or so!" Sarah was horrified. "He will not. And certainly not until I can get someone to show him what to do! Legs I know, but faces?"

Meanwhile ...

The Dunnes

Alison has done a reading at the Edinburgh festival fringe, while Kitty is on holiday with her dad and his family in Wales.

The Kitsons

Lydia has got a job in a fashion store - she likes the clothes and gets a staff discount. Nathaniel has gone up a belt in jujitsu.

The Haynes

The house-move is looking touch-and-go for the end of the month, so they are anxiously chasing and chivying.

Today's best video

Today in pictures