Hi friends,
If you’re new here, welcome! On Wednesdays, I release a brand new episode of my memoir which asks the question: In the absence of a ‘well’ mother, can it ever be possible to become a ‘good enough’ one yourself?
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4th November 2020
“‘Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?’ I think, smiling a bit that this has come into my head, now. It’s the title of Jeanette Winterson’s memoir, which I read during the short window between going on maternity leave and my elder daughter’s birth. I’d been sent the book by Dad, who’d chosen it because of its title - he joked - from an online book list I kept.
There had been much about me, growing up, that my family had affectionately ribbed me about. My dress-sense; even my studiousness. I never felt ‘normal’, but in some ways I claimed it not as shameful, but as a point of pride. I wanted to stand out; to be noticed. I craved recognition as a way to feel special.
