I read it this morning and had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I don’t expect CM to be so awful that she didn’t get approval from her daughter. I did feel it was mostly sensitively written and it is a hugely important topic aimed at fellow parents of teenagers. CM references how the NHS is at the point of collapse and how eating disorders and self-harm are so common in teenagers and I think she got the tone of that spot on. Her own experiences serve to enhance that.
At the same time, I did feel there was a slight undercurrent of “look at this hugely tragic thing I have weathered so brilliantly as a mother”. A lot of references to CM hugging her daughter to sleep and how close they were/are, not in the context of “I’d do anything for her” but more that she’s telling us she is just this amazing mum.
I don’t know, maybe I’m being biased because she pisses me off so much, but there was something that felt a teeny bit performative about some of the incidents she described.
Then again, I’m not a parent and I have no idea where I’d even start with something so awful, so I don’t feel well placed to have an opinion. I do think the topic is waaaay more relevant and important than basically anything else she’s ever written. For that alone I wasn’t quick to criticise it like I was the “maintenance shag” excerpt and the “feminism is for men” bullshit.
