I’ve heard of this series before and read the Facebook articles by the same author about Peter and Jane which I found very witty but, have not read one of the series of books. I thought they were a bit cliched and simple and I have to say wasn’t drawn in by the cover, I didn’t feel the book was aimed at me. But, I was wrong and am happy to admit it! This is very astute in perceptions of people and situations and everything is done with such humour which is bang on point. I found it very amusing, often making me laugh out loud, but, also so real in the situations and the way of looking at our daily life and what we all experience. It’s like going out for a drink with your fun, cheeky, outspoken and often a little bit rude best friend and actually it is such a joy to experience! Just what I needed right now. I will now look out for the others and work my way through them.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The story centres around Ellen and is more of a diary entry into her everyday life and goings on, and recommences from the previous books by Gill Sims. Ellen has recently split from her husband Simon, and her children, Jane and Peter, are coming to the ends of their schooling and starting to be independent. We also see appearances from her hilarious friends, including her best friend Hannah and her young toddler Edward. Ellen helps a struggling Hannah by offering to look after Edward for a night and the drama that follows is brilliant. That particular part of Edward’s shenanigans was probably my favourite in the whole book. Although these books by Gill are laugh out loud funny there is also an underscore of relatable life experiences that everyone and anyone can relate to in their own lives, from the bringing up toddlers, to primary age children, and then the teenage years, whilst trying to hold down a job, keep a marriage going, and looking after the home. And Ellen says a lot in her diary entries that most want to say but never do, and they really make you realise that most people feel like this.

Another brilliant book by Gill Sims, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to everyone, but especially those with school age children.

My thanks to HarperCollins Nonfiction for an invitation to review via NetGalley ‘Why Mummy’s Sloshed: The Bigger the Kids, the Bigger the Drink’
by Gill Sims.

Ellen (Mummy) has been a wife and mother for so long that with splitting from Simon and her precious moppets, Peter (16) and Jane (18), growing up she’s feeling a bit lost. In addition, the company she’s been working for is ‘restructuring’ and at forty-eight she might be forced to dust off her CV and re-enter the job market. Lots of uncertainty, lots of large drinks.

This is the fourth and final of the ‘Why Mummy’ series. As with the previous three, this was chock full of hilarious scenes and laugh out loud moments. There are also quite a few creative expletives and down-to-earth anecdotes within.

This is a series that I have been recommending widely ever since our reading group chose ‘Why Mummy Drinks’ to read in 2018. I fell in love with Gill Sims razor-sharp wit.

It’s hard to say goodbye to Mummy, her precious moppets, adorable dogs, and the evil chickens as well as assorted family and friends. Still, as I have been collecting the audiobook editions, I may go back to the beginning.

On a side note, the cover art in Tom Gauld’s distinctive style have been a delight.

Overall, these books are the funniest domestic comedies that I have ever read and I highly recommend this book and the entire series.

The is the fourth book in the Why Mummy series and whilst you could read it as a standalone I would recommend starting with the first as there are so many loveable and funny characters that are regular features. I’d like to thank NetGalley, Harper Collins and Hattie Evans for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

From reading the synopsis I knew there was going to be an element of sadness to this book as Ellen sends her eldest off to university and I wasn’t wrong. The scenes in Jane’s bedroom when all the furniture is packed brought a small lump to my throat and made me want to cherish these precious years I have with my two boys. Then the youngest woke me up at 4:30am today so that joy was very much short lived!

I am at the opposite end of the parenting scale to Ellen. My two moppets are under 5 so I actually related more to Hannah in this story. My youngest is in fact called Edward and I’m not sure if it’s in the name but my Edward definitely has the naughty, mischievous streak running through him. It was like reading a chapter from my own diary when Hannah detailed her day to day with the little monkey, except mine isn’t quite to the same extremes as book Edward.

All of the characters have developed throughout the series but Simon has had the biggest change. I found him more mature, less irritating and generally a nicer character in this book. There were plenty of sweet moments and laughter between both parents and children that gave this book a heart warming feeling.

Yet again I sat there shaking with tears of laughter and my husband had to ask if I was okay, I’d only read 4 pages at this point! Gill Sim’s writes in a way that is not only hilarious but also true and relatable which is why I have come to love her books so much. She takes every parents deepest, darkest thoughts and isn’t afraid to say them out loud! I couldn’t even reread the supermarket trolley scene to my husband without laughing and by the end I was left with a huge smile on my face.

My only request to Gill Sims is please do not stop! I want Ellen all the way through her remaining adult life until she is sat in a care home getting up to crazy antics with the other residents. For me a world without Ellen and her whole entourage is one less bit of joy in the world.

Why Mummy’s Sloshed is available now so don’t forget to buy your own copy and join in with the rest of us laughing our way through!

Gill and her precious moppets are back for the final (sob, sob!) instalment in the ‘Why Mummy…’ series. I’m sure I’m not the only person who is sad that it’s the last in the series, but all good things must come to an end.

Mummy thought that as the moppets grew up, they would become less and less reliant on her but, as all mothers know, that’s never the case! Teenagers don’t know where the laundry basket is any more than toddlers do, and they require just as many – if not more – snacks.

Then there’s the ex-husband lurking around, despite having a girlfriend. What’s he after?

No wonder Mummy’s sloshed, many of us would be, in her position!! Absolutely loved this book, with plenty of laugh-out-loud and head-nodding-in-agreement moments!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I've read all of these books and said it before I very much doubt as a fifty eight year old male that I'm the target reader but as in keeping with those that have gone before I thoroughly enjoyed the trials and tribulations of motherhood and whilst no as many laugh out loud moments perhaps as certain others, it certainly had it's moments.

I loved this. I haven't gotten around to reading the other books in the series but it was still fantastic as a stand alone. Laughed so much.

Jane is ready to sit her A levels and Peter his GCSE's but of course its all under control. Ellen can do this along with being there for Hannah as she deals with her toddler demon. Plus there's some worrying developments ahead. Surely this year will come together with plenty of drink and swearing.

Hilarious and utterly relatable to most if not all parents. I love these books so much. Each one is a hilarious delight. Its so real and funny. My children are younger but can relate to much of this especially remembering those toddler days. They were an experience and of course the hell that is sudocrem. I love how each character is just likeable in their own way. What I love about these is how they show its okay to mess up and swear as a parent. Plus that ending was perfect. It summed up everything the book represents. I want more of these and will certainly read again. A fabulously funny read for any parent who worries they're not doing a good job.

Fans of Gill Sims’ Why Mummy… series, or her highly successful Peter and Jane blog, will be familiar with the format by now, as this is Ellen’s fourth and final adventure in the world of adulting (and parenting).

Peter and Jane are now hulking teenagers, obsessed with online gaming and driving lessons, and Ellen finally has a bit of time and space to assess her life and think about her future identity once the children finally fly the nest. Uh oh!

Yes, now that the #parentingfail days are more of a memory, Ellen is looking at her personal and professional life and worrying about all of it indiscriminately. Almost ex-husband, Simon, suddenly seems to want to be involved more, there are ominous rumours of a coming merger at work, and a hot neighbour has moved in next door… but could he be a serial killer? Or missing a willy? Because some things never change, and Ellen is still prone to wild forays into her very vivid imagination at inopportune moments!

Gill Sims captured the highs and lows of parenting small children in a light, funny and eminently relatable way, and now she does the same for parenting nearly-adults and considering becoming an adult yourself. The result is a lovely, feelgood romcom that will have you alternately aawwwww-ing and giggling.

I didn’t think I could bear for this series to ever end, but Sims has achieved the impossible in bringing Ellen’s adventures to a satisfying conclusion, leaving the reader feeling replete with warm fuzzy feelings. Until one’s own Moppets notice and ruin it, of course!




I nibbled my bun and sipped my tea as the hour slowly passed. Seventeen years ago, it didn’t seem possible that I’d be sitting and waiting to hear if Jane had passed her driving test. What was I doing seventeen years ago? Apart from feeling old and thinking I was already a dried-up husk because I was the ancient and decrepit age of thirty-one, which now, with hindsight, seems utterly ridiculous. I’m forty-eight and look upon women of thirty-one as mere babies! They are but ingénues, so hopeful and young, with not the slightest idea of how much cronedom lies ahead of them, or just how much they have yet to dry up. They’re all hash-tagging madly on Instagram about things I don’t understand like ‘bulletproof coffee’ and kimchi and starting podcasts. Anyway. Seventeen years ago. Baby Music. I used to go to Baby Music on Friday mornings. Every Friday morning, sitting in a circle on a hard, cold church-hall floor, attempting to pin a furious and writhing Jane on my lap while clapping along with the other smiley-happy mummies to an irritating song about an old brass wagon.

– Gill Sims, Why Mummy’s Sloshed

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Another hilarious instalment from Gill Sims: this light-hearted, easy read is guaranteed to make you smile and reminisce about the teenage years, either your children's or your own.

Peter and Jane are now teenagers, in the midst of their GCSE's and A-Levels and, in Jane's case, preparing for university life. Ellen meanwhile, is conflicted between the potential freedom that this will bring and the potential loneliness that comes from no longer being "needed" by her children.

However, first there is the all-important matter of ensuring the teenagers revise, eat healthily, pass their driving test, don't get too drunk, don't spend their life on Instagram/games consoles and occasionally sleep. How Ellen has time for friends and a love life is beyond me.

As always, Ellen takes on the burdens of others as well as her own. Her ex-husband Simon shares his new girlfriend woes and her best friend Hannah finds it hard to cope with her feral toddler (we've all been there) along with her teenagers and busy husband.

It is not all fun and games though as Ellen does give us frequent glimpses into the painful reality of single parenting as well as parenting from a working mother's perspective. However, the casual care free style of writing doesn't make the reader become bogged down in this: it only makes Ellen and her life much more real to us.


Why Mummy's Sloshed is so relatable - from spending a fortune on ParentPay to trying to get sudocrem out of the carpet to shouting "love you darling" very loudly to embarrass your kids - everything is so honest and real, it was a pleasure to read.

I feel like Ellen and I would be good mates and would cackle with the best of them over a bottle or three of pinot grigio. In saying that, my boys haven't reached the teenage stage yet and I'm not sure this book is making me look forward to all the smells that come with them!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this next instalment from the hilarious best-selling author.

Another absolute cracker from Gill Sims. Ellen has adapted to being a single parent but now has to cope with exam time for her precious poppets. New love Jack has taken himself off the scene but relief has come in the shape of a new neighbour - with adorable floppy hair. Ellen can sense that he’s hiding a secret though. Is it a lack of - ahem- something ‘manly’ or another problem?
Then there’s the monster problem of her best friend’s tantrumy 2 year old. We get some brilliant mummy rants about him! Then there’s the problems at work. Will Ellen be out of a job because of the restructuring? We also get a nod to The Witcher and the gorgeous Henry Cavill - have you abandoned Jamie Fraser Gill? I think we should be told.
It’s a fast ride on the mummy train but we’ll worth the trip! I devoured it. And there’s a great ending! I wish I could give it eleventy billion stars but we’ll have to settle with 5.

Well this book don't disappoint. Hannah with the baby is so much like mothers these but still makes you smile.

Cant wait for another.

Oh my goodness I could relate to so many things in this book. The joy of teenage children but at the same time wanting to tear your hair out when they don’t listen and the precious moments when they remind you how much they love you.
I absolutely loved this book, it was such a fun read and had so much sympathy for Hannah trying to cope with teenagers and a toddler, again something I could relate to, although thank goodness my toddler was nowhere near as energetic as Edward!
I enjoyed the way it showed Ellen as a strong independent single parent, holding down a job, managing her children through their exams and trying to get back onto the relationship ladder.
Out of all the Why Mummy’s books this is the one I enjoyed the most and would highly recommend this.

I have read all the other books in the series and this one didn’t disappoint! The kids have grown however the friendships are forever growing. Loved reading it

Once again laugh out loud funny.

The children are now older and well into teenage life.
Studying for GCSE’s and preparing for Uni.

Light hearted easy read

The fourth book in the series. A return to the excellence of previous first instalment. The children are now young adults taking gcse and A level exams. Friendship are still strong but changes have been made.
A story that will resonate with parents with off spring going to university and life changes as we get older.

Gillian Sims has done it again, brilliantly written, so funny and true to life. 2 teenage children - Jane is now 18, taking her driving test and soon to be off to uni. Keep producing books in this series please!

A real funny, emotional and honest read. I can identify with empty nest syndrome. I laughed a lot reading this and enjoyed Gill’s diary of her life.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy. .

Having been a fan of the other 3 books in this series .... this last and final book did not disappoint.
I think I went through every emotion possible reading this book and the whole series. An honest and true to life story about Ellen, Simon and their children. Nowadays people try to make their lives family look so perfect online. - this book will make you think .... OMG this book
Could be about me lol!!
I have to admit, I was a bit sad reading this final book ...... it will take a lot to live up to these hilarious books!!

Thank you For letting me read this in advance of publication xxx

#netgalley #gillsims #bookstagramshaz #harpercollins

The fourth “Why Mummy” novel and it is just as laugh out loud as the previous three. Mummy’s little darlings are now young adults, exams, university and driving lessons are all looming and the burden falls on her alone to sail the seas to keep everyone afloat come what may. It’s more or less a diary of her daily life and her unspoken thoughts and feelings which are absolutely hilarious. Absolutely recommend this.