This last week will go down in history for a variety of reasons, not least as the week when I finally grew up.

I suppose looking back on the past 34 years I’ve not done too badly, in fact, if a school report had been written on my twenties and early thirties it would probably say “Debbie tries hard at all subjects and is willing to listen when advice is offered. Seven out of ten. Well done. PS, if her brain did as much work as her mouth she’d be an astronaut.”

You see, muddling along. Getting married and having a baby have no doubt aided my maturity, the responsibility of being a mum allowing me to experience emotions I never knew existed, but there always seemed to be something missing, some kind of sign that I’d joined the grown-up brigade.

With no warning, that sign came last Friday. Doing my weekly shop I found myself walking around the supermarket clutching a recipe I’d ripped from a magazine. Scanning the shelves for ingredients, I was vaguely aware that this was the sort of behaviour that mummies do the world over.

That was just the start of it. When I got home, I unpacked the groceries and, without thinking, took the bags back out to the car to re-use. Actually, I wasn’t so much shocked as pleased that at long last I’d got the hang of recycling supermarket bags, buying them at the checkout was no problem, I just had to buy them every time I went since they only used to make it into the kitchen drawer to be forgotten about.

In one day I’d had two signs that things were slowly changing, but how could I know for sure that I was truly a grown-up?

The real clincher for me was when I developed an all consuming love for Tupperware. It all happened quite suddenly, there was I tidying the room one minute and the next I’m sat, coffee in hand, reading a Tupperware catalogue.

I must have entered some kind of Tupperware hypnosis because the next thing I knew I was on the internet ordering. Tupperware has certainly moved on since I was little and mum used to let me play with the empty mincemeat carton at Christmas – you can store in it, cook in it and probably even sail the Channel in it if you tried, and I love it.

It’s not just functional though, it’s also therapeutic – it creates order in my life. So what if I’m a bit scatty and always late? Look at how I’ve managed to match up the boxes and lids! The boxes themselves have caused a bit of a nightmare when it comes to where to put them. Where once the sandwich toaster and vegetable slicer used to live in quiet harmony under the sink, we now have anything and everything rammed in. With such tight packing it’s no wonder sometimes it’s like the concentration round of The Krypton Factor to get it out again.

For the time being I’m trying to restrict my internet/magazine browsing to once a week. We don’t really have the storage space for new boxes and with the global credit crunch we don’t really have the money but times change and I’m hopeful that when they do I can indulge in my passion properly.

Let’s hope it’s soon, eh? – I’ve already reserved a copy of the Christmas brochure!