My mum would leave me in Bath’s public library on Saturday mornings so she could go and do the shopping. I was three or four. You wouldn’t do that these days, but I remember it as a safe place. Thrilling, too. It felt like freedom, all the books and endless possibilities. My mum’s nickname for me was “Muni” – if she couldn’t find me, she’d call it really loudly. In a library. Mortifying.
Be unafraid. That’s what I try to teach my daughter. Be brave in your choices, don’t worry so much about what other people think.
