My mum was a children's librarian, so I spent a lot of time in the library. My reading life, because of my mum's work, was evenly split between American, Canadian, Australian and British authors.
You can't be a great mum and work the whole time necessarily; those two things aren't ideal. We have an awful lot to work on and to debate about in relation to our working lives, because it isn't working for a lot of people, particularly for a lot of women.
That was the toughest thing I ever had to do: tell my son that his mum was gone. I was a bachelor living on the beach, but I had to pull it together very quick for my boy.
I had a paper round and every night I would put the dinner on before Mum came home from work. I was capable because I had to be.
I couldn't live without my music, man. Or me mum.
My mum was too busy raising four of us to encourage my hopes. But I'm glad I had the upbringing I did. It made me a worrier and a thoughtful, curious person.
I most want to be remembered for being as great a mother to James and Lennon as my mum was to me and my brother Jamie.
I deeply adored my mum. She was an extraordinary person, even for the prejudice I'm likely to have. She was beautiful, amusing, a tremendous elaborator of things into comic proportions and extravagant in her imagination.
I'm going to be a strict mum. I know that love is the most important thing - you've got to have lots of kisses and cuddles - but you also need to mix it with discipline or you'll be in a heap of trouble.
I always remember this neighbor who would ask me to babysit for her. She looked like Jayne Mansfield, and I remember babysitting for, like, five hours and she would pay me 80 cents, with a phony smile. I used to go home fuming to my mum.
My mum thinks I'm amazing at everything. That unconditional love is just the most precious thing you can have.
The biggest musical influence on me was my mum. We were both enraptured by music.
When I was growing up, I'd be in the choir. My mum was the organist in the church, so I'd sing in the church.
My mum made a conscious decision not to teach me any Indian languages so I wouldn't talk with an accent.
I want to be a young mum and if I didn't have to work I'd have them tomorrow. I'd like three!
To be happy, to make other people happy, to get into movie production more and probably to give some other people the chances that I had, to carry on enjoying being a mum and never to stop having flowers bought for me. I've still got a long way to go.
Mum's serial misbehavior over the years had driven me, despairing, to write her scolding - occasionally scalding letters.
Well, unfortunately, my father passed away before my first book was published, so he never lived to see me as an author. But I think my mum was suitably pleased because she was mad about words. If she ever came across a word that she didn't know, she would always look it up in the dictionary.
I've had to ban my mum from coming to see me play. She gets so nervous before any show. I've always got a few nerves but she's so much worse than me. You'd think she'd be able to handle that kind of situation. After all, she is a concert pianist.
I grew up in a house full of women. I have two older sisters and my mum who is a very strong woman.
I am someone who worries a lot. I'm always worrying 'what if?' Now I'm a mum - there will be worries for the rest of my life, but they're not about me anymore.
I want to thank my mum, my daddy, my coach, my teacher, everybody in my life.
I was living at home until about 27 and decided it was time to move out and move somewhere else, so that's what I did. I wanted it to be the right thing to do. I didn't want to buy something out of my price range; I didn't want to be stupid with my money, so I decided to stay at home. Luckily, my mum and dad were amazing.
I try to balance it out on the whole. Being a mum is always the priority. Next, it's taking care of yourself. Right now, I get to only work two days a week - it's a dream. I can't imagine how hard it is for mothers who work 40 hours a week.
I could always sing, from a really young age, but my voice was really weird. I used to make my mum turn up the radio every day in our house. She was well into music so I got that from her.
Mum and dad thought I was going to say I was pregnant. I said oh no, no, I've just been nominated for a Golden Globe. They were like, oh that's lovely, love.
Obviously Victoria and Mel B have become mothers and there is a part of me that wants to be a mum.
My mum bought discounted tickets for shows like 'Cats' and 'Les Miserables'; I became completely enamoured.
I was mainly raised by a working mum who didn't have much time or inclination for making food. So I had three or four basic meals: fish fingers and a tomato; a packet scotch egg and a tomato; pasta with a tin of tomatoes; and extra mild plastic-y cheddar chopped into cubes with bits of cucumber.
When my mum first told me she got sick, I didn't cry. I probably cried over my mum's illness twice.
Living in the fishbowl is hard enough without worrying about a Secret Service that can't keep mum.
The picture of me as a child is that I was always with a ball - that's why I was so skinny: I would miss dinner. Mum would have to leave me some food in the microwave.
My mum has never wanted me to have children. She thinks I would be destroying my life, even now.
I come from a family of working women, my mum went to work two weeks after I was born - my parents had no money, there was no choice.
My mum passing away wasn't funny, but that funeral and what I went through, the things that happened, looking back at it, there were funny moments. You have to be strong enough to look back at it, to sit and assess the situation.
My mum actually gave up work to look after my child, which is so touching.
