MY FIRST MOTHERING SUNDAY AS A MUM

We were staying with friends - GFW and his wife Aunty J. This is Alice, just after breakfast, waddling towards me whilst flexing my card - I had to wrestle her for it.

We left GFW & AJ's mid-morning to drive to J&J's house for a reunion lunch - GFW, GFN and several others who I went to school with - 4 ladies there, 3 of us celebrating our first Mothering Sunday with our babies and the 4th (Aunty J) heavily pregnant with her first - quite a gathering!

Mid-afternoon found us on the road again, this time driving home after being away since Thursday morning.

So how did I find my first Mothering Sunday with my baby? It was a good day, like many others. Emotionally - nothing significant, certainly nothing to compare to the Mothering Sundays spent waiting, also thoughts of my Mum were far less painful. [4 and a half years on from Mum's death I've reached a point where I can't regret her death as it was the starting point for my adoption of Alice. I would love for Mum to be here with Alice, but that's not possible, I have to get on and enjoy life now and now that Alice is home that's so much easier.]

Really, when you consider Mothering Sunday, it's not for single mothers - we don't get a break, we don't get breakfast in bed, bunches of flowers, surprise boxes of choccies, lunches out - because there's no one to do those things, but then I don't need those things because the way I see it - being a single Mum every day is Mother's Day and I don't need gestures (however heartfelt or lavish - though the card was much appreciated!) Her smile, her giggles, her leg cuddles (new this week), every progression, every new skill mastered - those are the treats, the rewards, the best things in the world to me and I wouldn't swap for anything.