I’d always been determined to show my children they were loved and cherished in a way I had never felt. But my quick and fierce reactions had made Poppy feel she had to hide things from me. And my need for everyone else to like me, to feel that I was doing a great job, meant I hadn’t always been focused on them. Pretending to be present, as my mind flitted over the thousand jobs in my head. In this reality I forced myself to really listen, to engage with what they were telling me.
