My young son has turned me into a Milky Way buff | Rick Jackson

Holly, at four, loves Barbie, Spongebob Squarepants and dressing up.

Freddie, on the other hand, has developed interests in subjects that also interest me.

This all started at the age of three when his fascination with aeroplanes began.

I have to say I’ve really enjoyed our trips to Heathrow Airport to watch all the planes taking off and landing.

And thanks to Freddie’s tutelage, I now know the difference between 777s and A330s, 787s and A350s and 747s and A380s!

But now, at the age of six, his infatuation is absolutely, 100 per cent, with the solar system.

As adults, we find ourselves binge-watching Netflix. He is the same on YouTube, watching video after video all about the planets.

Actually, it’s really interesting.

Although Mercury is closest to the sun, Venus is the hottest planet because its atmosphere keeps the heat in. It also rains acid there, so I think I’ll give a visit a miss.

The first four planets are made of rocks and the other four are gas planets.

You cannot land on Jupiter as there is nothing to land on!

Saturn’s rings are made of ice, rocks and dust and the most amusing planet is Uranus, which also has rings and spins on its side.

You see, fascinating stuff.

When things get back to normal, we will definitely be visiting an observatory.

We use an app on my phone to find Jupiter in the night sky and use my powerful binoculars to look at it.

I couldn’t believe how excited I got when my eyes adjusted to this tiny, bright star to slowly reveal its cloud markings and red storm spot.

It’s so rewarding having a shared interest with your children. Freddie is not interested in football so far, so maybe star-gazing will be our thing. Or will Freddie be moving on to something else soon?

As long as it’s not Barbie, I don’t care!

Masks made of pants? Wow! A real nightmare on our street

The only mask I’ve ever worn was of Freddy Krueger and that was at a fancy dress party, so the new norm will take getting used to.

It makes sense though – a little hardship to prevent us going into lockdown again. I’m sure we’d rather wear one and wash hands more regularly.

Some of us have made our own, using T-shirts or patterned material and they look great. Others have not tried so hard, like the mother who worked out it’s easy to tear and fold a nappy into a handy face mask. Then there was the chap who wore his girlfriend’s knickers. Makes sense though, especially to go around the ears and that double material protection is provided by the gusset.

Pebbly beaches? Love ’em – they keep the hordes away

I say it often enough on the radio, but I firmly believe we live in the best part of the UK. Wonderful coastline, beautiful downs, historical and important cities, we have it all.

Alverstoke is coming into its own again this summer. We load up the trolley, pick Freddie up from school then head down to the beach, splash about on the paddle-board, light the barbecue and have dinner as afternoon passes into evening.

You bump into friends down there and it’s all very sociable. Some say our beaches are let down by the pebbles. I can live with that in the knowledge we get our beaches to ourselves when the sun shines and the mercury rises, unlike those poor residents of Bournemouth.​​​​​​​