My mother had become a obsession for me, a religion, and the very thought of referring to another woman as Mother seems sacrilegious, a betrayal of t… - Ayobami Adebayo

Maybe she was one of those people for whom satisfaction lay only in the future, forever slightly out of reach.

Sometimes I think we have children because we want to leave behind someone who can explain who we were to the world when we are gone.

A mother must be vigilant. She must be able and willing to wake up ten times during the night to feed her baby. After her intermittent vigil, she must see everything clearly the next morning so that she can notice any changes in her baby. A mother is not permitted to have blurry vision. She must notice if her baby’s wail is too loud or too low. She must know if the child’s temperature has risen or fallen. A mother must not miss any signs.