If a man has a cold, they have pneumonia, if they have tummy bug it is gastric flu and if they have a headache it's an aneurism.

My husband is actually not that much of a wimp. On the whole he tends to just get on with any illness he may have, (although he did annoy me the other week when he pulled a muscle in his neck playing squash and claimed he was going to pass out everytime he moved his head!)

Knowing what men are like, I am determined that my little boy will not be a "typical bloke" when it comes to minor illnesses and injuries.

Like most children, Samuel is prone to drama, often giving Oscar-winning performances whenever he has hurt himself.

"Argh, mummy, look, look!" he will scream. "I have hurt myself, look!"

From his reaction you could be forgiven for thinking his leg had dropped off, but most of the time I have to get a magnifying glass out to see the damage.

Over the years my husband and I have learnt to distinguish between the moments when he cries wolf and the times when he has really hurt himself. We also realise that if we panic every time he has a minor scrap, or feels a bit poorly, it will only encourage him to be more over the top, so where appropriate we try to play things down.

At the moment, Samuel has a cold. Fortunately he doesn't seem too unwell with it and so far it doesn't appear to have zapped his energy.

Last night, however, he was becoming more and more blocked up and was obviously feeling a bit unwell, wanting a lot more cuddles than usual.

When it came to bedtime, I gave him a dose of Calpol and put vapour rub on his chest and dotted Olbas Oil on tissues which I placed around his room, to help him breathe more easily.

I did have to smile to myself however when, as I tucked him up in bed, he looked up at me with his big blue eyes and said: "Mummy? What would happen if I didn't breathe all night until the morning? Would I die?"

"Well, if you didn't breathe, then yes," I said.

"I can't breathe through my nose, it is all blocked. Listen," he said. "So I might die and go to heaven."

"No, you won't," I say reassuringly. "Do you know why? Because us humans are really special, God designed us so that when our noses get blocked because we have a cold, we can breathe through our mouths instead. Look."

"Mmmm," he said thoughtfully. "That's clever, isn't it? But God forgot something, mummy."

"Oh and what's that?"

"You can't breathe through your mouth if you suck your thumb."

"Ah, good point. Perhaps tonight you should try to go to sleep without sucking it. OK?"

"OK, mummy, goodnight, but when I see God I will tell him he didn't do a very good job."