I HAVE to be honest – my house looks like it’s been burgled a large amount of the time. Dali and Bay leave a trail of devastation behind them, all toys are immediately emptied out of boxes as soon as they’re put away and they like to have a fashion show each morning where all discarded choices get thrown on the floor. I can’t blame just them; Greg and I have a pretty haphazard way of living (ok, it’s more me than him). While I’m trying to keep everyone alive and fed, tidying, cleaning and the list of household jobs has fallen way down the list of priorities.

This is where I need to speak about my dad. A few times a year, I have a breakdown and whine about all the things that need doing in the house and the next day, he will cancel his plans and turn up with his tool belt. This week, he turned up to put pictures and curtains up, hang the bathroom blind that has sat in the box in the bathroom for 11 months and fix lights. We somehow managed to completely destroy Bay’s bed in the process (that was put together by my fair hand and some may say not properly as I had some screws left over) but with a drill, he managed to put it back together. I made lunch, we listened to jazz and chatted about our family.

My dad worked away a lot when I was a child and many of my memories are of just my mum, my brother and me. We had a turbulent relationship when I was a teenager but as adults, we get on famously. I get my ability to barter, an irreverent sense of humour and love of the sea from my dad. Becoming a grandparent changed him irrevocably. He adores the girls and they are obsessed with him. One of my favourite things about becoming a parent has been seeing how it has affected my dad and the joy Dali and Bay bring to his life.

In this hard time of my life, I am so lucky to have my dad around. Not only does he come to help with DIY, when I arrive at his house for the millionth time in a week, frazzled and tearful, he quietly opens the fridge and gives me a beer.

I love you Daddy.

l Stacey Heale has put her career as a fashion lecturer on hold to focus on her two lively little girls and fiancé, Delays frontman Greg Gilbert, who was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in November 2016. She launched the viral campaign Give4Greg to raise funds for lifesaving treatment: gofundme.com/give4greg. You can read more at her blog beneaththeweather.com