Mostly at these maternal gatherings, our small children lightening the mood and gleefully oblivious, I feel a bit like a poltergeist. I float above and below and no one looks at me. I don't mind. My son is cautiously friendly, thank God. He's my icebreaker. I allow myself to bubble at the surface so that he can have a close to joyously normal childhood - even if it is peppered with eccentricity. People used to go to therapy - that became too expensive so now they write best-selling tongue-in-cheek memoirs. Good for them. I'll tuck my family into characters that are new, I'd rather not parade oddball genetics in front of millions (at least not unless it's cloaked well - I'm good at cloaking).