Mummy’s Little Helper: The heartrending true story of a young girl secretly caring for her severely disabled mother

Content warning for anyone coping with MS or OCD - this novella is very readable, but it does go into a fair bit of medical detail that might cause distress.Not at all bad for its genre, which has over recent years become very nearly formulaic, but this book is decidedly short for its price.I was interested to hear from someone dealing with MS and OCD who was unfamiliar with either condition, since both are in my family & that kind of unfamiliarity is very far behind me (in the case of the former, anyway; for the latter it never happened at all, since I'm the one who has it!).To see the external events around a child being taken into care for reasons other than the parent being at fault somehow was something I also found interesting, having very nearly been on the other side of this as my sister & I were both young carers ourselves (our mother died in our mid-teens, after being in & out of remission with lymphoma since we were toddlers) and, like the little girl in this story, had our own health problems besides.I read this pretty much in one sitting, and while the Kindle version could do with another proof-reading run, the editing made it very readable, & it's decently paced. It's not my usual reading matter, and I don't really jump at it, but I will be recommending it to my stepmother - she will love it.

You will quickly recognise you are not reading a book written by a talented author, but rather a book written by a foster carer with an interesting story to tell. Unfortunately though, the story had too much emphasis on the writer rather than the little girl, Abby. While ‘Casey’ claims she does everything for the children in her care, it is clear she also does it largely for herself. Fostering is her way of feeling important, needed and valued. Of course, that is fine; we all need to feel that way sometimes. However, as a reader, it would have been far more enjoyable for the story to have simply re-told Abby’s tale without the ‘me me’ writer’s viewpoint.

Excellently told by Casey Watson with a lot of insight to fostering children with needs. Although this little girl wasn't seen to be in a specialized bracket as uncontrollable or unable to place, so Casey thought that apart from looking after her while her Mother was in hospital suffering a relapse due to MS, it would be straight foreward, it turned out not to be.........As a sole carer myself I know how hard this can be, how it takes up your life and you have no life of your own. The impact on your physical and mental well being and total exhaustion at times, to imagine this on a little girls shoulders is terrible.Thanks to Casey for bringing this to light

A really good story about how a child puts others above herself . Looking after her mother shows how easy children can slip under the radar.

I have read many books on this subject including all Torey Hayden's.....But this little girl through Casey Watson captures all your caring emotions and just praying her life will work out for her...It was beautifully and with such a human touch a wonderful book

I always look forward to reading about the children that pass through the care of Casey and her family.She writes their accounts so well and I do enjoy reading updates. Not forgetting the sometimes terrible situations these children need to be in to have the opportunity, she does a wonderful job.I hope to be able to offer similar when my children are older. Although I would much rather there was no need.Thank you for sharing x

I don't normally write reviews on authors / books. This was a good book and as always I love Casey's books along with Cathy Glass. I do find annoying that there is always an extract from another book at the end, so sometimes I don't feel I get a full 100 */, out of my kindle.It does open your eyes to social services and the jobs they do.

Very good story