Don't Call Me Mum

A Mother's Story About Being Pushed to the Brink

By: Maria Frankland

Narrated by: Miranda Virdaeus

Becoming Tom’s mum had always robbed me of the chance to sleep, and here I was, fifteen years on, alone in the dead of night, longing to be able to rest like everyone else.

When I saw the thin blue line on my pregnancy test, I dared to hope for a future of blissful motherhood.

From his very first night in the world, Tom did not sleep. By the time he was six months old, I was a single parent and almost maddened with tiredness.

At ten months, Tom could walk and became a real force of nature, leaving a trail of destruction behind him. Nobody could believe how overactive and naughty he was and I became accustomed to regular finger-pointing and blame.

Increasingly ostracised by friends and other mums, I dragged my son to every professional known to man, to no avail. Over the years, we were outcasts in every situation, school, party, outing, journey, etc, and as he grew, so did the severity of the behaviour.

Ritalin was in its infancy, attitudes were directed towards blaming the parents and schools preferred to exclude rather than to help.

Tom’s hyperactivity gave way to teenage delinquency and as he went through his teens, I was terrified that he’d finish up in prison or dead as a result of the choices he was making.

In the end, the only agency that really helped and supported us was The Youth Offending Team and I’ll always question why it ever had to get to that stage.

This is my story and I hope that as a result of telling it, I help other parents struggling with a similar daily and relentless battle to what I had.

As you listen, remember - you are not alone.

©2019 Maria Frankland (P)2020 Maria Frankland

I LOVED IT!

I absolutely loved it! This book shows the struggles and determination of a mom! The narration was excellent and kept me entertained! The author did an amazing job with the characters and was awe inspiring! This was my first book by this author and I look forward to reading more of her books! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

ADHD is so hard

I understand so much of what this mother went through. I raised 3 children on the spectrum the middle one also has ADHD as well. It is heartbreaking when you love with all you have but love is not enough. My children like Tom are all grown now. All 3 are responsible adults with jobs and can pass for neurotypical people. We as a society want to put so much of the blame on mothers. Not on parents, but the focus is always on what mom must have done wrong.

I, like this author, have so many memories of doctors and counselors that all wanted to say it was me, my childhood messed up my children.

For any parent who is in the trenches, this book will help you feel not so alone.

The narration was excellent and kept you in the book.

This story is so so unbelievable

First of all when the writer tells us about right after she had the baby and was still in the hospital call she got no sleep because the baby cry constantly. It is the fact and a fact that has no exceptions that newborns sleep up to 26 hours a day. Then she says when her baby kept crying she took him to see the Christmas lights and it distracted the baby as he was focused on The lights and consequently stop crying. When a baby is a newborn and all the way up to Three months a babies reactions are purely innate and they consist of hunger pain and discomfort and sleepiness. That is why they don’t sell toys for newborns because it would be pointless. Not to mention what kind of hospital did she give birth that but right after she gave birth to the baby they put the newborn in her room and even when it wouldn’t stop crying according to her the nurses did nothing and let her deal with it… I mean really that alone sounds unbelievable, but moving on. Then she says after she goes home months later Her husband went bought powdered milk so she can get some rest and he would be able to feed the baby. Then she says at four in the morning her husband ran out of problems and woke her up and she was so sleepy blah blah blah. What was she doing with her husband who is feeding the baby with a bottle if she was still tired at four in the morning. It is a fact that you can stay up for four days and one good nights rest will rejuvenate you. Not just that she has a whole chapter called eight months without sleep. OK that alone isn’t possible In the book she says her husband took the baby to his moms house, but she had to clean up and so therefore I couldn’t get sleep. Anyone who has been a new mother knows that if your baby sleeps you sleep, if someone takes the baby you take a nap and certainly if your husband is home he can take care of the baby. So for this woman to actually want us to believe that she went eight whole months without sleep which as I said impossible tells me she is a tad bit dramatic and is comfortable playing the victim. She also said she took her son from doctor to doctor and they all came up with lame excuses for why he was the way he was. I can’t believe no doctor in her area looked at his history and said oh you took the baby to multiple doctors maybe we should study him and take this more serious. Instead they gave a lame excuse and center on her way. What I don’t understand is that I can see one or two doctors doing that but if you go to multiple Doctors and tell each one of them that you have been in search of health for your child one of them would know what they were doing even if by accident. Just so you know I’m only on chapter 3 and I’m going to stop because there is much much more I could say and contradict that this writer wants you to believe but I’m tired already and must say I don’t recommend this book but about a curiosity you want to read it feel free don’t let me stop you not that I could. It is good for a laugh so you have that.