‘A year is a huge portion of their little lives’

Konnie Huq has found she is not as patient as she would like to believe, and has resolved to change

Ialways thought I’d make a good mum. Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted kids. Even in my primary years, I dearly wished for my parents to give me a younger sibling so I could help change nappies, feed them, push them about in a buggy and all the rest. My Tiny Tears life-size doll – all the rage back then (they cried real tears!) – didn’t cut the mustard. I wanted the real deal.

My Blue Peter years meant I was used to kids and dealing with them. I’ve often found I can relate to them more than adults; must be a reflection on how immature I am! I like the fact they’re not cynical and jaded. They’re often inquisitive and open-minded. Plus, they’re funny, too. I could definitely have a few of them. I’m the youngest of three and my mum and dad both came from large families and I always envisaged I’d have at least three myself: two was a boring nuclear family, whereas three or over was more like a dynasty; a team.

Fast forward a decade. By the time it actually came to having my own kids, I was already termed a geriatric mother. The cheek of it! A mere 35 years old, in the prime of my life (in my opinion).

I always thought I was patient, tolerant and laid-back. Until I actually had my kids. Physical breathing and eating human beings that run around your house and mess up your life, errr... I mean living room, that mess up your living room.

Nothing prepares you, though, for the reality of having your own; rewarding and frustrating, joyous and painful, their happiness is ours and their sadness is, too. I ended up stopping at two. It’s truly terrifying but brilliant as well. But being a mum in lockdown is a whole new ball game. If it’s taught me anything, it’s that I’m not nearly as patient and tolerant as I’d like to believe. I’ve caught myself yelling at them, moaning about them and mumbling expletives under my breath too many times to count. My triggers have multiplied in number: how many times can a child say, “I’m hungry, I want a snack!” My boys (above) are serious Guinness World Records contenders. Thank goodness for “Back to School”. Or is it?

The truth is, there may well never be another time in which we’ll get to spend as much time with our kids. A year is a huge portion of their little lives. Cooped up inside in the home with no regular social activities, who wouldn’t go mad, ricocheting off the walls?

So my Mother’s Day resolution is to value them more, be calmer, savour every moment and be nicer. Let’s face it, it goes so fast; it seems like just yesterday they were in nappies, although oddly it has been three centuries since they began homeschooling. Go figure!

Anyway, I’m going to be a better mum from now on in, well, until the next lockdown, that is. Touch wood, it won’t happen.

Konnie Huq’s children’s book, Cookie and the Most Annoying Girl in the World, is out now