Esther N McCarthy: Would I be a different mother if I was rearing you, my imaginary daughter?

"I never told anyone this, but here you go, a little story for you, hypothetical daughter dearest. The first inkling I had of you."

Esther McCarthy. Picture: Emily Quinn

“Boys wreck your house, girls wreck your head.”

I’ve heard that one a few times. Apparently, as parents of humans with X and Y chromosomes, my husband and I are super fortunate to have no females destroying our peace of mind, and yet we will never know the joy of a tidy interior.