Bestselling author, Cathy Kelly, on Mother's Day

Happy Mother’s Day, my darlings!!!

Hope it’s a glorious day no matter how you plan to celebrate it. Mothers are such a special part of our lives – whether you’re a mum to big ones, little ones, furry ones, ones who don’t actually think you’re their mum but you take care of them, don’t you…..?

Yes, there are all sorts of mothers.

And today’s the day we celebrate all the mothers in our lives and say thank you for being there.

I find that relationships with mums – and I’m including the amazing dads, grans, aunts, stepmums, who are there for us -  change as we get older.

When you’re small, your mum is the one who agrees with you that the kids on the road are being mean to you and absolutely, you stay inside and sulk. (OK, that was me. )And my mum was wise enough to realise that pretty soon, I’d cop onto the fact that I was missing out and come out of my sulk…. Lesson learned. Thanks, Mum! I was seven, though. Not twenty-one…!

My mother is a wonderful joker and her favourite trick when I was younger, was to wander off in the supermarket or library when I was talking to her. She’d hide and watch me blithely talking to a (bewildered) total stranger. At some point, I would realise this and oh, Mum would giggle. We’re lucky – we still have fun. I still have her around. And over the pandemic, I’ve been there to pick up the slack and get her groceries and flowers.

But not everyone’s so lucky. In Other Women, Marin has a mother who’s Hard to Please. You know the one: nothing is ever right and if only Marin wore nicer clothes/was thinner/did something with her hair, then all would be fine….. No, Marin does not kill her in the final chapter!

Single mom Bea has a gorgeous mum who helps her raise little Luke, while darling Sid has a hippie-style mum who looks like she could go onstage with Fleetwood Mac, and who knows Sid has a hole in her soul and does her very best to help. 

Yes, mothers are wonderful.

The thing I’ve learned over the years is that we can mother ourselves too. Women can be tough on themselves. We worry about family, work, housework, what we’re going to do about the ant infestation in the utility room, when our best friend is going to dump that horrible guy she’s going out with, are we too old/the wrong shape to be wearing yoga pants all the time? We just worry. But how about this Mother’s Day, we mother ourselves too. Let’s talk to ourselves in the kindest Mom Voice. Because kindness is what mothers can have flowing through their veins. (Not Marin’s mum, obviously) Let’s be kind to ourselves too, this Mother’s Day.  

Love

Cathy xxxx