Bernard O'Shea: Hips don’t lie — this is karma for mocking my mum

Feeling as flexible as a rusty gate? Avoid a rebellion by giving them a flex

Bernard O'Shea: Mocking is surely catching. Picture: Moya Nolan

As a kid, I used to do impressions of my parents as my "party piece". I would roll out the well-worn lines that layered the vocal landscape of my youth: "Close that f**king door". "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?" "Try it on here. Sure, who's looking at you?" .

But the biggest laugh my three older sisters would get was when I'd pretend to be my mum in the morning and repeatedly say, "I'm shocking stiff." Well, mocking is surely catching. For the last few years, I've woken like a plank. Tying my shoelaces takes me at least an hour in the morning.