I SPENT almost the whole of this evening in the Accident and Emergency Department: Ronnie had been complaining about an earache all day and as the first doses of ibuprofen and paracetamol wore off, the pain returned with a vengeance. He was in real distress. Why does this kind of thing only happen on Sundays?

Carolyn stayed with Reggie while Ronnie and I made our way to the hospital. Fortunately, his pain was starting to subside by the time the doctor managed to see him: the pressure from a build-up of fluid behind his eardrum finally caused it to split. They gave the wee soul some antibiotics and more pain relief, but by the time we got back home — a good five hours after we had left — he was in fine form. And very hungry. He’s now sound asleep, thank goodness.

Regular ear infections have always been part of his short life. The latest one was probably caused by a visit to the swimming pool, but it usually takes far less than that to kick one off.

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been mentioning the boys on this blog recently. This is because Carolyn feels that regular references to Ronnie and Reggie make them a target for public criticism and comment in the same way that I am.

However, she’s asked me to post this in order to make an appeal: does anyone out there have any top tips on how to protect kids from regular ear infections? Or suggestions of alternative treatment to antibiotics?

Thank you for your time.