Mum

What's the first "M" word I think of for me...."Mum" - I am defined by my child, for all the right reasons. There isn't a day goes by where I don't find sometime to tell him how important he is to us, how much we both love him and how proud we are of him. In his short ten years, he's had some pretty rough times, but he is such a delight to spend time with, polite, funny, intelligent and he just fills me with joy. His moral values are already pretty well rounded - he knows right from wrong, he does not condone poor behaviour from others and he tries to behave rationally when others let him down.

He made this for me ages ago - gave me a set of pens and asked me to pick my favourite colours, then tootled off and made this for me. It has pride of place on the fridge. I don't think it is significant that it is being held on by a Dragon magnet and another one that says that "I am not a complete idiot - parts of me are missing" (although, the magnet speaks the truth, my gallbladder is no more, and my marbles are lurking around the place somewhere!).

So Mummy is Magic. I can be a bit "me, me, me", as Corin will testify to! I can't make machine-gun noises - male friends tell me that this is a common operating fault with the female species. I was better at Macro-economics than I was at Micro. I no longer wear mini-skirts. I no longer read "gossip" magazines. I'm sometimes magnificent, it might be said that I have a certain magnetism. I like to make things. Sometimes maladroit. Sufferer of many maladies. At times, I feel distinctly menopausal - it's a worry. I have been maltreated along the way, I'm sure I have maltreated others. I try to make amends when that happens. Can't abide malingerers. When stressed, I can be a little manic, as episodes over the previous weekend will show. Just out of sheer bloody-mindedness, the chocolate covered nougat.caramal and peanut bar is called a MARATHON in our house. I seem to spend an extraordinary amount of time marking my students' work. I believe in marriage and value it - despite the one that didn't work. I have won medals for gymnastics in my younger days. I try not to be mean. Often one to mediate. "Meddle" is my favourite Pink Floyd album. I can be pretty mellow. Can't hold a melody, unless I am in concert by myself in my Mazda (when it isn't melting by the roadside in miserable weather conditions). I am a keeper of mementos and have a head full of memories of people and places I love.

One day, I will write my memoirs!