You don’t get to retire from being a parent. It’s a job for life with no pension. Even when you’re 100 your children will still be your children. And if you’ve done your job properly (which you will, of course), they’ll still want your approval and your support.

They won’t want to be treated like kids, though. Even if, to you, they still are. So you have to find a way to have an adult relationship with them which still leaves room for you to be their parent. It’s a tricky balance but I know enough parents who have done it brilliantly to know it can be done.

So here are the best Rules I’ve picked up over the years for making sure that you’re just as good a parent when your kids are 40 as you were when they were 4 or 14.