Society prizes a girl for being thin more than anything else she might bring to the table.

There is so much that is positive, wonderful even, about state schools. At a state school your kids will learn to live alongside and appreciate other kids from many diverse and different cultures.

If one's honest about it, spending time in a car with children is pretty ghastly.

Call me an over anxious, middle-class mum, but my eight-and-a-half-year old son looks very much, to me, like he's headed for a life of crime.

I dont understand boys - just ask my husband.

Despotism isn't nearly as bad as it's cracked up to be.

I wish my parents hadn't made me feel that how I looked was linked to how much they loved me. But I do also see how hard it must be to see your child pile on the pounds and trust they'll find their own way back to a healthy weight.