Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
Was a hilarious read, and I could resonate with many a thing, but Ellen experiences and retaliates more vividly than me. At least five fold than an ordinary mother does she suffer mishaps and indignities ... if I am permitted to consider myself as representative of the average mother . This is a comic insight into the life of a middle class family and the travails of life that disrupt all efforts to be more organised. It is written in the form of a diary, Ellen is a woman looking to change her mess of a life with her recalcitrant young children, Peter and Jane, and her tech obsessed husband, Simon, and family dog. Her turning 39 awakens all her insecurities and fears about the process of aging, she is determined to be more fashion conscious and improve her image, and be the more perfect and organised mother. So she draws up plans, gives us insights into how her actual life has been. Like all the best laid plans, they scarcely survive the realities of life. There are the stresses of the school gate mummies, Lucy Atkinson's perfect mommy and The Coven, always perfectly turned out, with whom Ellen can barely compete. Although the occasional Dad at the gate sends hearts aflutter. I enjoyed the book. It was very funny but rather risqué. I particularly found the Easter Egg hunt and the Fire Work display very memorable. If there was a problem with the book, it was the bad language and too much information about her Sisters children's Toilet habits." Maureen. Even though Ellen at times could be very selfish, I loved her character overall. When she needs to step up to the mark she does and she had me routing for her a long the way. From issues with extended family to the everyday issues you would have at home, this book really does have it all and really makes for a highly enjoyable read.
I particularly liked how the story was set out in a diary form covering a full year, with each of the events narrated within the correct month, e.g. the taking of exams in June and the dreaded expectation of results in August. This made for a highly realistic time line of events that sounded all too familiar and I knew exactly what issues was on their way! When we first meet Ellen (Mummy) she is waiting to take her daughter, Jane to her driving test. Her children Jane and Peter are now older. Jane is studying for her A Levels and hoping to go to university and Peter is studying for his GCSEs. She is now separated from her husband Simon and going through the process of a divorce. Throw in some changes at work and Mummy’s plate is full to bursting. However, she still has time to see Hannah one of her oldest friends and babysit Hannah’s 2 year old son Edward, who gives new meaning to the term ‘the terrible twos’. The book follows Mummy’s life in a year and each chapter represents a month and what happens in her life. This will definitely be an eventful year for Mummy, no wonder she’s partial to a drink. Why Mummy’s Sloshed” is quite a rollercoaster ride and I did feel quite breathless at times, it’s not a stress free read but then neither is parenting! And in the words of the author, “the bigger the kids, the bigger the drink!” Mi-a plăcut că la acest capitol autoarea a găsit de cuviință să discute cu prietenele ei despre nefericire, perfecțiune în aparență, viața ideală și că la toți oamenii există probleme, nu numai la ghinioniști. Așadar, tratează și teme serioase.BTW, the consensus from Bookclub was a thumbs down...at least it wasn't just me that struggled with it). Ellen really could be anyone of us. She's heading towards a big milestone in her life and she is doing her best to try and be the perfect mother and wife. Well as we only to well know, life is never that easy and even though we may fancy ourselves as being a bit of a Mary Poppins, sadly that is probably more just wishful thinking! Review: I just adore this series. I feel like main character Ellen talks in exactly the same way as me, like we would be friends. I just love the way she views the world and the way she reacts to everything that happens to her. You don't have to have kids to love this series, I'm not a mummy but I can so relate to everything that happens to Ellen. This is the first book I’ve read in this series, and I have to say I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. I wasn’t sure what the book would hold, whilst I expected some laughs and jokes, I suppose I wasn’t expecting it to be quite as funny as I found it. On the surface, this is a humorous look at a middle-class, middle-aged couples marriage with an appalling new-age leech of a sister-in-law and a pretentious mother-in-law. But it goes two layers deep, and it made me very sad.
But she has an idea for a blog and an app, 'beat the middleclass mummies' which he puts down because it isn't proper earning work like he does. Just some silly idea a woman might have. This series really does show what real #momlife is all about, warts and all and I love how honest this writer is about what life is like when even a trip to the loo isn't your own time. I can imagine that this writer has vamped up some of the stories for comedy sake but I can totally picture everything that Ellen goes through happening in real life.The book group liked the diary format of 'Why Mummy Drinks', comparing it to 'The Diary of Adrian Mole', but this time with a 39 year old (equally irritating and confused) mum. I had to look up what FML* stood for. Groan. Really?? Well there's a snippet of information I didn't need to add to my already overcrowded brain. Things absolutely deteriorate when there is a big row over her overspending on the shopping although it is mostly his sister and her insistence on organic, non-gluten wholefood from specialist shops. Mummy says, do you think I have time to traipse around the supermarkets to save a few pence on this item and that? His sister comes with her brood and her campervan having left her unfaithful husband and not wanting to actually work, decides she will leech again off her brother and sister-in-law. She would like her own house in France, but her parents are suddenly short of money.
The book itself was an absolute joy to read, it was so much fun and absolutely joyful. I loved the story, and felt so connected to Gill Sims' autobiographical character in this book, through her opinions and thoughts. I loved seeing the connections between each of the family members in this book and all of the fun anecdotes. I also really liked the layout of this book, as it is set up to read like a diary with different accounts of Gills' life throughout her two children's' examination years in school, at ages 16 and 18. It was also really interesting to see the dynamic between two separated parents, and how Gill raised her children primarily as a single parent. I have literally never stood wistfully in the supermarket and thought ‘Oh, how I wish someone was trailing behind me constantly whining ‘Mummy, can I have, Mummy can I have?’ while another precious moppet tries to climb out the trolley so they land on their head and we end up in A More like whine. Incessantly. About everything. And everyone. Mweh. I wanted to drink while reading this. Maybe I should have, I may have enjoyed it more.Ellen waxes lyrical about how she's brought up Jane to be a strong independent young woman. If Jane has turned out OK, there is little evidence that Ellen had a lot to do with it.
Great Deal 
New Comment