Responsibility is something that many of us are getting to grips with again today, the first ‘real’ working day of 2011. After days of what was, for most, an extended festive holiday because of the way the dates fell, today for many PRs is all about refamiliarising with project schedules, deadlines, urgent requirements and longer-term actions.

For me, the stark realisation that responsibility was again required came a little earlier – when faced yesterday with the life-determining issue of what music to put on my daughter’s new iPod.

It did seem a bit strange giving a tech gadget to a six-year-old for Christmas, but then again I got my first music player (grim grey portable record player, only played 7ins singles, though it could stack them up thanks to a natty plastic arm) at six, so fair enough.

But she doesn’t know how to download music. Yet. So she asked me to put some music on it for her. What sort of thing did she want, I asked?

“You’ll know what I like. Anything that is good, is happy and is not a Christmas carol because Christmas is over” came the reply.

This, then, became a responsibility like no other.

My actions over the coming few hours could shape her musical tastes, and so indeed the rest of her life. The first three pieces of music I got were (in this order, and with a degree of pride): Baggy Trousers by Madness, Ghost Town by The Specials and A Town Called Malice by The Jam. All from Boots’ record area, all 89p each. Yet in the digital get-it-quick age, she was entrusting me with making these formative decisions for her.

So what’s on the Pod then? Given I figured she’d need a small selection to start with, rather than being overwhelmed, and I needed to avoid the temptation to inflict too much of my tatty tastes on her, I went for:

- Several ABBA classics

- Best of the Jackson 5

- Some (70s) David Bowie

- Return of the Las Palmas 7 (mandatory, clearly) by Madness

- Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones

- Back in Black by AC/DC

Possibly a bit of a forecful ensemble for a six-year-old, but equally a crucial part of her education.

Here’s to 2011 bringing lots of other challenges, although hopefully none with quite the weight of this one.