If someone was to ask me what makes dads grumpy, I would not know where to start.

Just about everything makes my husband and father-of-two grumpy, from unwashed pots to carrier to clutter and the general state of the house.

Since he turned 50 four years ago his grumpiness has taken a turn for the worse. Now it is sparked by little things that would seem insignificant to most people - a lone, unwashed cereal bowl on the worktop, an over-full bin bag, bags left on door handles, unpaired socks on the washing line.

“Why can’t you just pair them up?” he will holler as pulls them off and gruffly throws them into the laundry basket.

And, sparking way more wrath than is necessary given the ‘offence’, he now takes umbridge at my watching sport on television. Ten minutes of snooker prompted this response: “This is so boring, why do we have to watch this, it’s worse than darts.” I hate to admit but I am now behaving in ‘surrendered wife’ fashion, staying up late to watch both sports (my husband usually starts his rant by saying that neither activity should be classed as ‘sport’), after he has gone to bed.

His behaviour is quite normal, I was pleased to learn. Almost a quarter of British dads admit that they are always grumpy, while another 73 per cent admit to becoming more so as they get older.

A poll of 100 fathers found that leaving the lights on is most likely to make dads cranky, followed by things like bad drivers, general bad manners and reality TV shows. Other ‘offences’ range from children not helping with household chores or not eating their meal to being treated as a taxi service and the neighbour’s cat.

York Press:

What makes dads grumpy? Just about everything, says Helen Mead

Household chores are a big issue in our home, and our daughter’s extreme pickiness surrounding food prompts a reaction from both me and my husband.

I am grumpy too, but then I have always been that way. I moan about dirty coffee mugs left in the bathroom and the shoe bank developing in the bedroom. And it is me who provides the taxi service, not my husband, so I deserve a moan.

But my husband’s moaning is getting much, much worse. The condition has attracted labels such as Irritable Male Syndrome and Grumpy Old Menopause.

Most of the dads’ grumpiness occurs during the working week, said the survey by an attraction pass company, with their mood lifting at the weekend. Not so in my home - if anything the grumpiness intensifies on a weekend.

I can only hope it soon spikes and a calm, mild-mannered chap emerges at the other side. And I’d like to point out that, despite the extreme grumpiness, he loves our neighbour’s cat.