Home truths from Ruth are spot-on

RUTH Walker's Healthy Bite column is the weekly read de rigueur for my wife and I. The resemblance between Ruth's life and ours is mindblowing, but as the parents of teenage children I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Her epistle on the Xbox study leave (Spectrum, 22 May) was just fantastic, even down to the throwaway line on the absurdity of the concept of someone employing the lazy little sods. From empty cartons in the fridge to the scrabble for change every morning for dinner money, her caustic words are a huge comfort. It is reassuring to know that it is not just us who are going through this form of self imposed torture.

Alan Richmond, Aberdour

THE tears were running down my face after I read Ruth Walker's column. That was the best laugh I've had for a while.

She just described my life, as a mother of three, two of them being teenage boys. Even my 16-year-old came to see what I was laughing at and saw the funny side. She should write a book.

Julie Ellis, via email