Guilt - consciousness of wrongdoing

Guilt, maternal - illusion of wrongdoing. Irrational, nagging conviction that you are not doing the best by your children, and would do so much better if you were anybody else.

With Mother's Day fast approaching, it's time to forget the stark reality of motherhood and float along in a pink bubble of motherly perfection. Isn't it? Well, with the bookshop shelves groaning with yet another feel-good, grass-stroking affirmations tome, one mum, the thoroughly imperfect Susannah Mac, decided enough was enough and started out to tell it like it really is. And so, Love in a Lunchbox was born...

There is an awful condition running amok among our mums, these days. Bad Mother Syndrome, or BMS for short. It is invariably self-diagnosed and, on the whole, way off beam. Even when they are frantically juggling kids, bosses and husbands - plus family, friends and bills - most mums seem to find the time for one final job: beating themselves up. 'If I give my daughter Twisties, will the additives limit her learning potential?' 'If I wrap my son's sandwich in plastic, am I saying it's ok to damage the environment?' 'If I make the sandwich with white bread, will the pumpernickel-mothers sneer?'

Love in a Lunchbox has a question too. 'Is it possible you've lost all sense of proportion?' This eclectic collection of wisdom, nonsense, quotes and jokes lets mums off their own hooks for a little while, allowing them to laugh at, rather than lament, the things that go wrong. If you've ever had the tiniest inkling that your marriage, motherhood, life and career may just occasionally be a little askew, this mishmash of maternal musings will strike a chord.

Susannah Mac is not the author of Nightlights: Stories and Advice to Help Your Child Discover Peace, Confidence and Creativity. She is also not responsible for Time-In Parenting: How to Teach Children Emotional Self-Control, Life Skills and Problem Solving by Lending Yourself and Staying Connected.

Hardie Grant
Author: Susannah Mac
ISBN:1-74066-409-4
RRP $19.95