Happy Imperfect New Year
Packing away the decorations, Maggie let out a little sigh of relief. That, in turn, made her feel guilty. She loved having the family for Christmas, but trying to make everything perfect was exhausting.
Great-Aunt Annie’s need to talk non-stop about her ailments, and young Tommy rampaging around with a laser gun were totally incompatible. Then there’d been the challenge of cooking a vegan dinner alongside the turkey, with her teenage granddaughter Chloe watching suspiciously, in case something should contaminate her nut roast.
‘Stop working so hard, Mum,’ her son Mark had said. ‘You can’t please all of the people all of the time.’ Yet, somehow, she couldn’t stop trying.
It was probably down to her late mother. Even now, her overly critical voice rang in her ears, ‘You’re so slapdash, Maggie. No one loves a sloppy child.’
‘Even now, her mother’s overly critical voice rang in her ears’
Thinking about it could still reduce
