“Coffee is wonderful. You’re making a terrible mistake,” said my (not so supportive) colleague when I told him I was giving up caffeine for a month.
I’d been thinking about it for a while after a friend went caffeine-free and, in her words, “stopped being so ratty and shouty towards the kids.” After a busy year, I had been feeling the same way: slightly jittery and utterly exhausted.
Like most busy working parents, I was using coffee as a sticking plaster for an overly hectic life. When one of my young children woke me up at the crack of dawn, putting the kettle on to make a cup of tea, while it was still dark outside, felt reassuring and gave me a little jolt of energy. Grabbing a creamy,…