“Being a mum is an all-in everything thing”

MOTHER’S DAY morning, and upstairs in bed, maternal bonds are being marked in time-honoured tradition, with phone calls from absent offspring, and tea and toast — with pot of hyacinths — brought to me by my youngest daughter.

She grabs one of my pillows, falls back into it and then through a mouthful of toast, says, “Is it fun — being a mum?”

I think about fun. Then I think about motherhood; its current incarnation and typical practices, for example: