Time to celebrate our mothers

Author Kathy Lette gives a heartfelt thank you to her magnificent mum, Val - a baker of fairy cakes with the patience of a saint.

- KATHY LETTE

Mum gave me the greatest gift – three sensational sisters. When together, we cackle like kookaburras. There’s a lot of teasing too, mainly about which of us is top of Mum’s speed dial. Because we cherish our mum above all else.

Every moment with Mum, now aged 92, is precious. She’s the only one left of her four siblings and the last of her friends still standing. Mum treats this reality with wry, dry wit. (Her humour is drier than an AA clinic.) Educated at a selective girls’ school, she’s also a walking encyclopaedia. During Scrabble games, her word is law. The whole family refers to her as “The Oracle”.

Mum’s authority also stems from the fact that teaching was her absolute vocation, just like her mother before her. A principal of many infants and primary schools, Mum is still adored by kids and parents alike.

My childhood memories of Mum are fairy cakes, fairy stories and endless fun. It was a happy and hedonistic childhood; the most dangerous thing for a 10-mile radius was a bad oyster. (The lack of misery and hardship does not make a great childhood for a writer, though. I’ve long contemplated suing Mum for loss of book royalties.)

Obviously, my bibliophile mum was devastated when I dropped out of school at 16. I always joke that the only examination I’ve ever passed is my cervical smear test, but in actual fact, I was a straight-A student. (Well, apart from maths. I’m convinced that the reason some women are so bad at maths is because men are always telling us that six inches equals 10!)