Surely if there's one time when we really deserve a drink or two at the end of the day, it's a global pandemic? After all, we can't see our friends, go to the pub or out for dinner. How else can we celebrate getting to the end of a difficult day of Zoom meetings and home schooling? So long as it doesn't become a problem... But how do you know if it's a problem or not? I, like many people, used to think the answer to that question was black and white. The world, we are told, is divided into 'normal drinkers' and 'alcoholics.' Alcoholics, I assumed, were people who poured vodka onto th ..read more

Like millions of people around the globe, I feel like I'm living in an unfamiliar, and unwelcome, parallel universe.  The TV I watch, books I read and vivid dreams I have show people hugging, kissing, travelling, partying and working in offices. My diary is filled with festivals, concerts and theatre trips, parties and a few holidays - events that will never happen.  Instead, we are all living in a world of isolation and fear. Even if we are lucky enough to be healthy, we worry for our friends and family, for our livelihoods, for the world. At a time like this, it's easy to thi ..read more

Welcome to Mummy was a Secret Drinker. If you've found this page because you're looking for help quitting drinking then WELCOME! All the information and support you need is in this blog. There are hundreds of posts, all free to read and share.  Click here for a good place to start! You can also find daily advice and inspiration on the SoberMummy Facebook page. I can't believe it's nearly five years since I started writing this blog, and two years since I published The Sober Diaries, the warts-and-all story of my first year without booze. I'll never forget the long, dark nights before pub ..read more

Guess what? I've launched a new blog! I've been writing Mummy was a Secret Drinker for over four years, and blogging here saved my life and introduced me to a whole load of wonderful virtual friends. *waves*. I will keep posting here from time to time, and the four hundred posts I've written, on booze and life without it, are still here for you to reference whenever you like. You can also read the book of my first year sober, The Sober Diaries, described as Bridget Jones Dries Out. It will tell you what to expect, give you loads of help and information and, hopefully, make you laugh. You ..read more

Did your family give you a present on Mother’s Day this year? Breakfast in bed maybe? Flowers? A home-made card? In the days BS (Before Sober), my three children always knew what to give me as a present, because they knew what Mummy’s favourite hobby was: drinking wine.  So, they’d buy me a corkscrew. A bottle stopper (ironic, since there was never anything left in a bottle of wine once I’d opened it). A giant wine glass with ‘Mummy’s glass’ etched onto it. You get the picture.             This year, my kids gave me a frame, with a photo of me and the three of them inside it. This made me a ..read more

I'm really not exaggerating when I say that blogging saved my life. I'd tried to quit drinking many times before, and I'd kept it up for a week or two, sometimes whole months, but eventually I'd end up back where I started. Usually worse than where I'd started. I'm often asked what made the difference this time, and the answer is simple: blogging. Here's why: Community In Johann Hari's amazing TED talk titled 'Everything you thought you knew about addiction is wrong' he says that the opposite of addiction is connection. It's finding a group of people who understand what you're going thro ..read more