My daughter and I walked out of school on Friday and without thinking, she slipped her hand into mine and we walked along chatting and laughing. At 6 years old, she is not quite self conscious enough to think its not cool to hold my hand, or kiss me goodbye but I know that time will come, I am just holding on for as long as I can.

It got me wondering about holding hands, when do we stop?

We hold our babies hands and they wrap their tiny hands around our finger, we hold our toddlers tightly when we teach them to cross the road, we walk proudly with our children on the first day of school and never ever want to let them go.

Our children grow up and reach out to hold the hands of their friends and boyfriends ((shudder)) and they dont believe they need to hold ours any longer.  They have their life in the palm of their hands and as they grow up, they want to be set free, not held back. I know this so I am thankful that I still have some one to hold my hand. I am a thirty something woman who still loves the simplicity of holding hands, the innocence and the safety it inspires.

So when are we too old to hold hands? I recently saw an elderly couple walking along the road holding hands and if they are anything to go by, the answer is never.

So I suppose that whilst I may not always be able to hold my daughters' hands forever, I will have to be content with always holding their hearts.