Many mums (and dads) are understandably beginning to look a little frazzled around the edges as the seemingly never-ending summer school holidays continue to meander throughout August. There is no better anecdote than the new novel by Gill Sims, ‘Why Mummy Swears’ which starts at the beginning of the long summer school holidays.
The first day of the holidays is filled with misplaced hope by Ellen, the mum of this story who comments on #makingmemories and feeling #soblessed to spend time with her precious moppets over the holidays (her reference to her two children, Peter and Jane). The precious moppets however, have other ideas.
The book provides a modern and delightfully humorous account of the joys of parenting while juggling full-time work and living in a social media led world (and the problems this causes) as well as a husband who enjoys exotic ‘work trips’ which she sees as a ‘jollies’.
Despite all her frustrations, swearing and drinking, Ellen makes it through the days and weeks of the school holidays with herself, her husband and her precious moppets intact.
There are many laugh out loud moments as the scenes expertly described by Sims are typical of most households and easy to relate to. One such part of the book that had me in stitches was when ‘Dad’ threw all the out of date food and condiments away, leaving Ellen to muse on whether they were still middle class if they didn’t have quinoa in the cupboard?
Amongst the funny anecdotes there were moments of pure heartfelt emotion and one point that struck a real cord with me on many levels (not least in my role as a family lawyer) was when mum/Ellen advices parents “All you can do is your best and love them and hope they turn out all right.”
The book is written in a diary format so even the busiest parent can easily dip in and out of it and even those without children will appreciate the humour as the trials and tribulations of a modern mum are set out in full technicolour.
The plot is a little weak, but as it is a diary it doesn’t detract from the relatable anecdotes that pepper the story and while the ending is predictably sweet, the reader is left with a warm happy feeling once the final page is turned. Be warned however that there’s plenty of swearing in the book (this should come as no surprise given the title!) so if you don’t appreciate strong language, then this isn’t the book for you.
Whether you are privileged enough to have precious moppets of your own, whether they are now sulky teenagers or even if they have flown the nest ‘Why Mummy Swears’ will provide a little light relief with many laughs along the way.
My Favourite childhood book: The Worst Witch series
I would urge you to read: Just a Boy by Richard McCann
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