Stuff I Forgot to Tell My Daughter

Book excerpt: A warm and witty memoir of motherhood (or what you meant to say but were too busy parenting ...) Every middle-aged woman wants to say in a firm, clear, loving voice to every young woman: 'I have been you. But you haven't been me, yet ... You should listen.' Liberated from the daily minutiae when her daughter left home, Michele A'Court suddenly found the time she'd never had as a parent -- to think about being a parent. Mostly, she spent the time wondering if she'd told her daughter everything she needed to know -- such as how to store ginger, get rid of bloodstains, calculate GST, stop your tights snagging, the meaning of feminism ... that sort of thing. So she began to make a list. The list became a hit solo comedy show. And then the list kept getting longer. So now it has become a book. A funny, wise, honest and maybe even useful book. Turns out I raised a determined young woman with her own very clear ideas about how to live her life. Who saw that coming? I blame the mother.