I may have painted myself into a corner this time... | BBC Radio Solent's Alun Newman

This particular group lived in a tight-knit community and it was a fascinating insight into another way of living.

One of the standout moments for me, was how the fathers of this community trained and encouraged their children to be able to help around the home and the farm where they lived.

The theory was that as early as possible, every job the adults do, they involve the children – wiring a plug, putting a tile on the roof, changing a gearbox on a tractor.

You name it, they involved the children, no matter what age.

To add to the mix, these dads were patient, kind, considered and mature.

This I found inspirational and subsequently decided to employ the same patience, love and mentoring with my own family.

The first opportunity that came along, I would grab it with both parental hands.

That opportunity appeared in the form of painting the front room, together, and only using white paint.

It would be easy, and a bonding process that will see my children becoming highly skilled.

At the time, my daughter was about 10 and my son was 13.

It was an unmitigated disaster.

There was paint everywhere.

The ‘cutting in’ was like something from Play School and people were walking paint from their socks into the rest of the house faster than it was going on the walls.

I fired them. Sacked. Dismissed. They had to go.

I can never be a Quaker.

Many years on and the emotional scarring had healed and my son’s bedroom needed painting.

This, I thought, would be an ideal time to revive my DIY mentoring skills and also create wonderful memories of doing something together – like on an American TV show!

Sadly my son chose a dark colour which I went along with in order to look empowering.

Dark colours mean your skills can be assessed by others.

Our time together distilled down to me repeating: ‘Decorating is all about the preparation’, and my son repeating: ‘Can’t we just put the paint on the walls?’

Once we were ready to go, we loaded our rollers.

I demonstrated.

My son took no notice.

I relinquished control.

Then I demonstrated again and the loop continued.

What was surprising was the lack of stamina – we finished one wall and he asked for a break. A break!

The walls weren't going to paint themselves, what do you mean by a break?

His theory was that we’d done one wall so let's take 20 minutes to pause (and watch YouTube) and then do another wall.

I’d never heard a strategy like it.

Surely, we all know that the reason painting and decorating is exhausting, is that it’s relentless and always takes longer than you think.

Breaks are only acceptable when all walls are covered with coat one.

It took three days of mentoring, negotiating and persuading.

I had to field complex questions such as: ‘Why do you make a putting colour on a wall so stressful?’ and ‘It’s just painting chill-out’.

None of this happened to the Quaker dads, they had very compliant children, all of whom had no technology which probably helped.

All the same, we pushed through and at the end of it all, we agreed that we didn’t like the colour.

However, we had one thing in common: neither of us had any intention at all of repainting it.

We needed a break.

For at least five years.

The ultimate comfort food?

Finally, this year is coming to an end and there’s vaccine light at the end of the tunnel.

However, we still have to get through one of the oddest Christmases we’ve ever encountered.

Fortunately, there is one food that makes the process much more bearable. It’s a food that could be eaten at any time but really comes into its own in December: pigs in blankets.

No scientist can unravel the complexity of this roast dinner addition. On paper, it makes no sense – pork wrapped in pork. It’s madness. Yet, in reality, it’s one of the stars of the Christmas dinner. When they arrive at the table in my house a feeding frenzy commences as if I’ve unleashed undernourished piranhas.

No company has ignored the power of the pig in a blanket – we have crisps, mayonnaise, scented candles and now... the cheesecake.

Yes, a company has started making a round slab of savoury cheesecake that has a crown, a mountain of pigs in blankets on the top.

In a press release, they declared that: ‘They've responded to the public's passion and love for this festive treat’.

Combining it with cheese, for me, is bordering on the ultimate food temptress.

If I was ever held hostage and they said: ‘Spill the secrets and you can have pigs in blankets followed by cheese’, I’d sing like a canary.

After this year we need some comfort. We need a moment when we know it’s all going to be okay. We need pigs in blankets like never before.