M is for Mummy

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Katy manages to portray the difficult aspects of raising a family and motherhood – particularly a neuro diverse family – but does it without seeming moany or dissatisfied.

The story is uncomplicated, the writing conversational and introspective, which makes this book relatable to all mothers. There are so many hilarious and might I add very detailed scenes in this book that will have you in hysterics. His journey throughout the book is, at times, hard to read and gut-wrenchingly challenging, but the author has done a wonderful job at showing the complexity of having a child on the autism spectrum. And I am sure many mothers will recognise so much of themselves in Lucy's everyday life and thought processes.Lucy cannot go on living like this and so – with the help of some of her closest friends – she starts to slowly but surely rebuild her life.

There are so many important lessons to learn in this book; from moms themselves, to friends and even just onlookers who never know the whole story behind a child's tantrum. It was fairly obvious to me what the diagnosis would be for Stan, but he is just a loveable boy, and Lucy is doing her best to understand him, that he really is just Stanley.The frustration that Lucy constantly feels is palpable and I'm sure every reader will be shouting in their heads that it isn't too hard to see where her son's autism has originated! The character was written with warmth and honesty, both of which fed into the fact that I felt a kinship with her rather than feeling like she was moaning about everything in her life; a fine line to walk, but one that was walked well in this book.

Now her days are filled with cleaning up puke from baby Jack and listening to facts about the gall bladder from her four year old Stanley. There were so many laugh out loud moments which made me positively chuckle and I couldn’t believe how relatable it all was. Ultimately that makes the issues she explores much more vivid than anything I would have picked up on the subject. As if bringing up two children wasn’t enough, Lucy is concerned about the fact that her once thriving marriage is now completely and utterly devoid of romance.Romance is officially dead in her marriage and her husband, Ed is of no help when it comes to handling the kids. This comedic story had me laugh quite a few times out loud and earned me a quizzical look from strangers as I sat in a cafe reading. Thank you to the author for this quote, it completely stuck with me, as I have been self-obsessing over just how many traits my son portrays, and spend hours convincing myself “maybe it is just behavioural problems” so to read this has helped me realise that actually he does display some autistic traits and the more I brush them off the less chance of a diagnosis, so thank you Lucy!