Postcards From a Stranger (Postcards #1)

by Imogen Clark

I’ve thought about a lot over the years. I’m certain all mothers do, as they try to process the crushing guilt they feel for the mistakes they believe they have made.

What about the woman who juggles everything to try to forge a balance between work and home, providing a role model for her daughters while at the same time preserving a little of what she was before they were born? Should the perfect mother let her children make mistakes or sweep in to protect them against every false step? Does she twist the truth to make the

world seem more palatable or be brutally honest from the outset? Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny . . . are these all legends that enrich childhood or lies that destroy trust?

However, the one thing that drives each mother on is a visceral need to do her best for her offspring. She may make mistakes, have regrets, wish for another spin on the merry-go-round, but each mother truly believes that the decisions she makes about her children are the best that she is capable of making at the time that she makes them. There is not a day goes by that I don’t wish that things had turned out differently.

So condemn me if you choose, criticise my decisions, compare how you would have played my hand if it had been yours. But remember, before you rush to judgement, that all mothers are ultimately driven by the same engine, despite their differing makes and models. We are all just doing what we think is best for our children.