Wait for it.....drum roll....OK, here goes:

I AM NOT A YUMMY MUMMMY!!!!

Ka-BOOM! Yes, you read that right. I am not a Yummy Mummy - at least not in the sense that I am quite, quite sure you understand it. You think Yummy Mummies are impeccably turned out, skinny, fake-tanned airheads with money pouring out of the rear door of their 4x4, a nanny (or two), a gorgeous house littered with designer scatter cushions, six luxury holidays a year with a nanny, personal trainer and private chef in tow, and who spend their days getting their nails done, shopping in expensive boutiques, having deluxe facials and organising other people to look after their little spoilt, neglected kids. Right?

Well, here's the news on me: I am just about the opposite of all that. I look after my three kids myself, I burn fishfingers just as often as any other frazzled mother of three who is lucky enough to even have fishfingers in her freezer, my daily mode of transport is a bicycle with two child seats on it, I have a post-baby tummy wobble which refuses to budge, - which I worry about from time to time just like any normal lady, but then choose to accept as a part of 'Mummy' me - half bitten fingernails and a dry, flaky scalp. In other words, I'm like any other normal, human mother I've ever met. Of course I disguise all of this under make-up and (mostly) clean clothes like we all do, and on a good day, with some concerted effort, I can scrub up pretty well. But the grim reality underneath is that I'm no different to anyone else who's had her stomach stretched to the size of a basketball three times and hasn't slept properly for ten years.

But the main thing, in all this madness, is that I love my kids more than anything, I am here for them whenever they need me and I just try to do the best I can. Sometimes I succeed. Often I fail. But I always try.

And that's what I call a Yummy Mummy. No nannies, no organic falafel, no designer baby gros and no heels. Just being a patient, kind, fun-loving Mummy, while not giving up on yourself - because you are the most important thing in your child's life, so you need to take care of yourself a little too.

So I just thought we should get that clear right form the start, so as to banish any myths about me you may have heard, read or assumed. The reason I put the words 'Yummy Mummy' in my books is simply that I believe motherhood needn't be the end of you as an attractive woman, and if you feel better about yourself - however you look, or whatever you wear, it doesn't matter - you will be much happier and therefore be a better mummy for your kids. And that's it. So that makes every good mummy a Yummy Mummy in my book, and that includes YOU!

And with that done, it's time for me to shut up and let you move on to check out the rest of the site.

Enjoy it, and always remember: any woman who says she thinks motherhood is easy and wonderful all the time is either lying or has someone else do it for her. Fact!

We ALL find motherhood difficult, no-matter who we are, what we look like or where we live, and the best way to make it easier is to share what we've learned, admit when we're not coping, and try, try, TRY to have a sense of humour about the whole crazy thing!