Mother arguing with daughterThere's no doubt that family rows are one of the unavoidable perils of parenthood and with Christmas approaching there will surely be plenty on the cards.

But according to a new survey, it's mums that are doing most of the shouting.The poll, conducted by family database Uinvue, revealed that flare-ups occur on average three times a day, with household chores, the kids "treating the house like a hotel" and couples taking each other for granted the top scorers in the rowing stakes.

With the average argument usually lasting for five minutes, the survey revealed that families spend around 91 hours a year with raised voices.

Of course, TV was a big source of rows, with mums keen on soap operas, dads desperate for sport and the kids preferring reality TV or movies.

Mark De Netto, spokesman for Uinvue, told the Telegraph: "It was interesting to note that mum still seems to play the pivotal role within the family.

"However the results do show that dads are getting far more involved."

While daughters were the biggest door slammers during a row, dads prefer to cool off with a long drive (though we have a sneaking suspicion that's just an avoidance technique).

Mr De Netto added: "Although arguments are a common factor in all families, our results show that they play a vital role in building and strengthening bonds within the family and act as a release valve for family members, so minor arguments do play a positive role in family life.

"We do still think it is worthwhile counting slowly to ten sometimes."

Since one in ten families polled confessed to not being on speaking terms at the time of the survey, we're guessing some of you may need to try counting to 100.