Sarah Todd: Curly brain can still straighten out children who won't behave

"Oh yes you have," this strange specimen continued. "What about a thank you?"

Reprimanding other people's children is a dodgy area. Our offspring are wary of going to the cinema with their mother as she's not averse to putting a finger over her mouth and going "Shush" at children that spoil films.

At first, fear of parents curbed my urge to have it out with unruly youngsters. But, more often than not, their "responsible adult" is usually too busy texting on a mobile telephone to notice.

"You've got a curly brain," announced our equally mad-haired six year-old. "It's different to other mummies…"

There's been a lot of discussion this week about the way children have climbed up the family pecking order. In our home we've been making a point of occasionally telling our offspring to shut up. To teach them that we don't always want their opinion. That sometimes little people, to coin an old-fashioned phrase, should be seen and not heard.

Various experts believe children have risen up the ranks because of safety fears. Consequently they are cosseted in cotton wool.

It's hard to give them the free rein we had. For starters, the roads are so much busier. The other day we had some money to drop off for a neighbour. Our eight year-old got her bike out and announced she was taking it. Oh, the fuss we had. With a destination less than half a mile away, she was told to go and get her bike helmet, not talk to strangers and not get in anybody's car.

At the other end of her journey, our neighbour had felt it was only right to stand and watch her on the return leg and only go back inside when her young visitor had turned safely back up our lane. Unaware of being watched, the smile on her face when she returned home was worth the worry.

Some old exercise books were turned up the other day and it was interesting to read what we were up to at the age of 10, just a few years older than our daughter.

There were tales of riding off with a friend "on Starlight and Frisby" (sandwiches in our pockets) for the whole day. Now it takes us until about teatime to get all the kids' safety gear on – back protectors, fluorescent tabards – before taking them out for a ride.

At least we're not among the small, but hugely irritating, band of school parents that say "don't go on the grass, you'll get dirty".

This curly brain might be odd, but it's not that odd.