Sonia’s Story
Sonia’s Mum is a transformational love story between a mentally complex mother and the daughter who adored her. I want to share these deeply personal and funny stories so that we can raise awareness for how challenging it is for many people who’ve had mentally ill parents and have struggled to come to terms with their own issues.
Soniasmum started when friends left comments on social media such as “Well said, Sonia’s mum” and “Sonia’s mum rocks”. Thanks to encouragement from the brilliant Jane Compton, the blog was born. Margaret Kathleen Beldom died in 2018, adored by everyone around her, despite her habit of throwing mugs and nicking things from other residents’ rooms. I used to tell her that she was “mumbelievable” which made her laugh. So it was a natural title for the podcast where famous faces share their own stories of their mums; from hilarious to heart-breaking.
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Mumcontrollable laughter
My mum Margaret decided one year that she wanted 99 red balloons on Mother’s Day as it was her favourite pop song. If you can remember back to 1984 it was top of the UK charts for Nena. I was sitting in her living room, in fits of laughter when she told me about the balloons, imagining her being raised up into the cloud whilst hanging on to a huge bunch of them. And while I was laughing she joined in and soon it was a loud mess of crinkled faces, tears, aching diaphragms and whimpers of “Stop, no more, no seriously, STOP!”
Trumpets, strumpets and crumpets
Don’t make me laugh. No, seriously don’t. 48 hours after surgery I’m trying to keep my life as boring as possible. Tricky in this household with my wonderfully comedic husband. And it’s a rare moment when HE says “don’t make me laugh” as he’s been coughing so much his...
And a step,2,3,4
Beloved step mum rang this morning in a panic as she'd forgotten to go to her dance class. When I say dance class, I mean stretch a bit, breathe, sit down, gossip about absent members and stretch another bit class. I've been a couple of times and in the beginning it...
Listen … do you wanna know a secret?
Let me whisper in your ear ... I'd love it if you tuned in to the MUMBELIEVABLE podcast, because every little listen helps, and it got me thinking back to my earliest memories of storytelling. My darling mum wasn't very good at bedtime stories as she got bored with...
Pod’s Honest Truth
hope you enjoy listening – all episodes are available on Spotify, Apple, Android and wherever you usually listen to podcasts. The BEST thing you can do to help this along is to listen, share and recommend the podcast to everyone you know. Cheeky or what? I’ve never been one to demand or ask directly for things as through my life I’ve always been cross with people who’ve tried to blag tickets, autographs or charity celebrity appearances from me just because I’ve tended to work the well know faces. So for once I’m asking you directly if you’d be up for helping.
MUMFORGETTABLE
"Once met, never forgotten", is one of the phrases used by a special guest on my new MUMBELIEVABLE podcast about our challenging, courageous, confusing and cherished mums. Margaret was a one-off. For anyone who met her, she wasn't one of those women who merged into...
Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb and Custard
What were your favourite childhood sweets or were you one of the lucky ones whose mum gave them organic carrot sticks and tooth friendly low sugar stuff? When I was little sherbert lemons and fruit salad chewies were great and...
RADIO MA MA
“Freddie who?” asked the young consultant when I commented on the brilliance of Mercury’s voice. He’d never heard of Queen which made my joke about Fat Bottom Girls fall flat on its … well, bottom! My mum loved the radio and recorded almost every show I produced...
Stomach Cake
A very short blog to remember my precious mum in the run up to Christmas. I’d spent all night creating this special cake and Mum’s reaction was - Why do the reindeers have Square legs? And His stomach looks like he’s about to explode. We did eventually eat the cake...
Take five
Mum passed five years ago and it seems like the day before yesterday. I stayed and talked to her for hours after she died and even though I know she’s gone, I always feel her mischievous presence everywhere. I’m sitting in the chemo clinic waiting for treatment and...
The chemo chameleon
“You’re just like you’re mother” or “ Meet the mother, know the daughter”. Sentences I lived in dread of hearing until Mum and I came to really understand and honour each other once she reached 80 and was placed by the mental health authorities into a secure care...
Children’s Mental Health Week
I danced, sang, and did anything to distract people from my mum's crazy behaviour and until recently, I thought this was normal and "cute". However, conversations with a therapist who is helping me process the death of four close friends and the sudden passing of my...
Twinkle, Twinkle, Giant Star
I wrote a little poem for my darling Dad's funeral and nearly got through it without crumbling into a soggy heap. For safety I printed out two sheets of A4 - one with "We apologise for the interruption", followed by "Normal service will be resumed soon." When I lost...
Writer’s blog
"Neither am I." quipped Peter Cook when he met a man who said he was writing a book. A great agent friend of mine said he had a cupboard full of clients who were "just finishing." theirs. My beloved husband is compiling showbiz anecdotes to go into his book and I...
Flights of Precious Angels
When my mumbelievable mum died it felt fitting to remember her with a golden plaque on a wall of remembrance, as she was a woman who spent her life breaking them down. She didn't give a hoot about protocol, socially acceptable behaviour or speaking her mind. The...
Mumbelievably emotional
"It'll be quite emotional", they said. "No, I'm sure it won't." said I. "You'll need to dig deep." they said. "I've spent my lifetime talking about this, so I doubt it." said I. "Do you ever listen to grown-ups?" they asked. "Rarely" said I. Deep down, I've always...
Makeup, Making Up and Making it Up
When we got to the elephant enclosure Mum disappeared for a few minutes and re-appeared with a bag full of pastries which we all fed to the elephants. Nobody questioned it and we were all about to move on when a security guard “had a word” with Mum and looked quite serious. It turned out that she had gone into the canteen, found people who were eating pastries and convinced them to hand them over so we could feed the elephants with them. Somebody complained, hence security guard, but as nothing had been stolen and people had actually handed over said pastries, there was no case to be answered. Mum had apparently called the security guard “Grumpy guts” as we all made our way to the penguins and it wasn’t until Sara re-told the story that I vaguely remembered the incident.
Tell your story!
My precious mum, Margaret Beldom, passed away peacefully on 12th November. She loved hearing all the stories that people shared about their own lives with people with mental health issues. A new conversation is starting, and it’s extraordinary. Please read “Surprise, surprise” and share some stories of your own.