What my mother taught me...

'What my mother taught me' is a massive topic and hard to define because, clearly, our mums teach us to be who we are. To stand on our own. To care. To teach. To nurture and to love. They teach us this by doing it for us. Children learn from what we do, not what we say or what we try to be. They see what we are so we should be who we want to be and do what makes us happy. It's the best hope we have of making our children happy. That's what I think anyway.

There's a couple of things my mummy, your Nana Foster, has taught me which I will tell you about here.

One practical skill of huge importance to me is completely down to my mummy.  My passing on of that skill to you is well underway. That skill is to cook....properly. Your Nana never makes us bolognese from a jar, or a cake from a packet, or cheese sauce from a tub, or a pancake from a plastic container. I learnt how to make all these things from real ingredients, with scales, a bowl, a wooden spoon and a recipe book. 

My mummy's mummy's (my nana's, your great nana's) kitchen scales which are now mine and will be yours

It is so very important to know and understand what you're eating and to appreciate that processed 'food' is not good for you. I had a solid grounding in cooking, and you will too, for all these reasons. It will educate your mind and keep your body healthy...even the cake! 

And now the other thing. This one I attribute to your nana, not because she sat down and taught me this stuff or told me what to do, but because I recognise the same traits in her. There were no recipe books here. It comes from her soaking into me as I grew and developed through those impressionable years into who I am today. I am referring to my desire to look after people, to feed them and to care about them. I can't bear disappointment in others. I'd always rather take it away and feel it myself. It leads me to not put myself first in a lot of scenarios but it's who I am. I remember being poorly when I was little and your nana saying she'd rather she were ill than me. I know that's a natural parent thing but I learnt how to be your mummy from my mummy and for that I am eternally grateful. 

Night night my darling. I love you.