and also kind of reassured me that I am doing the best I can and I should not take it all so personally. She was kind of joking, but truly I do think we tend to have fewer children and invest more in each one. The book offers everything for a slightly perplexed, self-blaming and feeling like a failure mum - honesty, support, practicality, emotions, laughter, tears, seriousness, generosity and bigger picture. Speaking as a parent but not a mother albeit married to the mother of my children for over 40 years I still worry about the children even though they are now successful in their careers, in stable relationships and have children of their own. There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives she might have lived.

They haven't just turned into terrible people overnight,” Lorraine said about kids becoming teenagers.Now that family sizes are reducing, maybe the maternal psyche is understandably freed up for (yet) more worrying. Mine dates from about the age of four, so any ghastly mistakes my parents made with me before then are lost in the mists of time. She has a wide circle of friends and hobbies, and does voluntary work but I can only assume she’s still unfulfilled or having some sort of life crisis. File on 4 had a programme highlighting the same thing happening to patients with Dementia in hospitals. It’s funny, full of great advice, deep insights and memories of the author’s life that seemed like they were mine too.

I like to think that I’m intelligent and independent thinking enough to take what I read as suggestions, use what I want and disregard the rest. Access to the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts, including exclusive series. Baby monitors have nightvision as well as sound; bath toy ducks have thermometers built in; crawling can even be enhanced with anti-slip kneepads. Groups tend to be small, so industrialised societies’ obsession with treating children in large groups organised by birth year, is not feasible. One minute you’re putting them to bed in their little unicorn nighties, they love you to death and you’re the most important person in the world, and then the next minute they can't bear the sound of your breathing in the kitchen in the morning, and it’s a surprise!

I feel genuinely sad for some older folk who have no one to help them get the treatment they deserve or family that don’t stand up for their right for decent care. Not every teenager will go through all of it but it’s prudent to read the book to know what to do if she goes through any of it. I used to ride this same rollercoaster, tell my children off, feel guilty, stressed, anxious and sometimes wonder what on earth this parenting thing was all about!