I used to think I was an ambivalent mother, then my child started to stutter

‘I had mistaken entirely common and dare I say ordinary feelings about motherhood for ambivalence.’ Photograph: Ray Kachatorian/Getty Images

I still can’t pinpoint when it happened, but it felt as though my child lost the ability to communicate overnight.

Of course, that is not what happened, and he never lost the ability to communicate. But it felt as though he did at the time. And even with the benefit of hindsight, it felt like he went from a chatty three-year-old to being unable to get a sentence out. “W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-can I-I-I-I-I-I-I” and then silence as he gave up trying and just looked up at me.