Sarah Todd: Teething problems, and other painful extractions of money

The dentist had said the baby tooth would have to come out. As I've never even had a filling before, the injections (which wouldn't have looked out of place going into a bullock's backside) were something of an eye-opener.

"These baby teeth only have shallow roots," the dentist insisted, before pulling and pulling, then pulling some more. Eventually it came out – leaving the roots behind.

Then, of course, it hurt to hand over payment.

"Didn't you keep it for the tooth fairy?" asked our daughter. On her present rate of about 20p it wouldn't have gone very far towards wiping the slate clean.

Somebody else who's been paying for work they didn't really want doing is the Husband, who has just had his second puncture after driving through a pothole. A new tyre for his car costs about double the dentist's bill so with two gone in a relatively short space of time it's got beyond a joke.

A little research has shown that the average frequency for a road to be resurfaced in England is once ever 65 years. Even if all authorities were given the budgets they need to fix the roads it would take 11 years to catch up with the backlog.

The roads around us are terrible. Granted, the bad winter hasn't helped, but even before this season's snowfall and heavy frosts some routes had more in common with cart tracks.

We wonder what we actually get for our council tax. There's no playground, street lighting or gritting. Nothing really, just dustbins once a fortnight.

Farmers must be getting desperate for the grass to start growing. Even with our small menagerie it's becoming an expensive inconvenience to not have any of the green stuff. The farming press reports turnout of cattle has been delayed by at least two to three weeks.

One thing that cheered me up was a Mother's Day evening spent watching Crufts. For once, the remote control was mine. Particularly poignant was the Friends for Life category, rewarding canine heroes. Although she did so much more, the way the winner Josie changed her little boy companion's socks would have melted the hardest heart. Whatever happened to collecting milk bottle tops for the likes of Guide Dogs for the Blind?

Before anybody says, I'm aware we're in a world of plastic cartons. But now it's all vouchers for schools from the supermarkets. I'd like to see my children collecting used stamps or silver foil, recapturing the spirit of those old Blue Peter appeals. Dental treatment, that's another worthwhile cause…