Before I had children I always wondered whether their births would be, for me, like the ultimate in gym class failures. And I discovered instead... that I'd finally found my sport.

When people ask what I write about, that's what I tell them: 'The drama of human relationships.' I'm not even close to running out of material.

I compromised my ability to tell my story, at the most basic level.

[On home births:] In a house where there had been three people, there were now four, although no one had come in the door.

I have no doubt that over the years my children will find plenty of things about me to criticize. But something tells me that twenty years from now not one of them will sit on some therapist's couch complaining because their mother didn't spend enough time vacuuming up glitter.

Imagine if you succeeded in making the world perfect for your children what a shock the rest of life would be for them.

The word NO, carries a lot more meaning when spoken by a parent who also knows how to say yes.