We women. as glue for the family. lead lives that are important and conflicted. What we women choose to give up for our families is important and valid.

And no one drank just one shot of tequila.

It was true; always had been. Friendships were like marriages in that way. Routines and patterns were poured early and hardened like cement.

Alice started to cry. It came with no sound, no shuddering, no childlike hysterics, just a soul-deep release that turned into moisture and dripped down her puffy pink cheeks. She touched her tears, frowning. Then she looked up at Julia and whimpered two words before she fell asleep. ‘Real hurts.’

One thing I can tell you for sure is this: we only regret what we don't do in life.

I might screw up, I might embarrass you, I might yell at you, but I will never, ever stop loving you. You're my first born. The first time I held you... I fell in love so hard it cracked my bones.

Whenever I write about motherhood - and I write about it a lot - I am drawing on my experiences as a mother and also my experiences as a daughter.