My mum tells me that I was a bit of a cheeky kid when I was younger.

As I climbed the highest tree in the garden, she used to shout from the patio: ‘don’t come running to me if you fall out and break your leg!’

My response was always: ‘how can I come running to you if I’ve broken my leg?’

No doubt that retort cost me a slap when I was back in range of my mum’s hand (she wouldn’t be following me up the tree) but I can’t remember exactly.

Anyway, today, I have a new twist on that phrase.

It’s ‘don’t come running to me if you ignore my team’s professional advice and the local paper chews you to pieces and then spits you out’.

OK, that’s perhaps not as punchy as the broken leg version but it’s relevant.

There is someone in the council who has decided to ignore our advice on how a particular issue should be handled.  We recommended that at the very least a news release should be issued to help explain our position.

While acknowledging the fact that I’m biased (one of my press operatives wrote it); I do think the proposed release explained the situation well and made it clear why we are considering the options we’re considering.

‘No!’ came the response.  ‘I don’t want to go proactive on this’.

We weren’t really able to argue.  This person is in the kind of position where they have the final call on what goes out in their name.

So then, today, I couldn’t decide whether to roll my eyes in exasperation or ring the person and say ‘I told you so!’ when it was brought to my attention that one particular media outlet has got this issue between its teeth (like a dog with an especially juicy bone) and it has been chewed to death.

The result isn’t nice and the piece isn’t at all complimentary.

Frankly it’s bloody frustrating.  On the one hand I’ve managed to get the director of children’s services to stand up and talk openly about some very serious issues facing her department; yet on the other hand we can’t issue something about a much less sensitive issue.

I call it my ‘brick wall moment’.

You know … it would be easier and a more productive use of my time to bring in a brick wall and smash my head against it.