Two mothers who hold positions of power in courts of law find the more they know, the more they do not know as their children and those brought before their courts teach them lessons, ranging from life's meaning to the inner workings of TikTok.
Before she was at the bench, the ACT's Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker had her first son when she was 29 and the bedtime stories she read to him as a boy were legal lessons.
"By the time I got home and fed him and he wanted a story, often I'd be reading something from there so I can be prepared for the next day," Ms Walker says.
Thousands of cases have since come before her, with one standout being a woman with a heavy drug addiction who went through the Supreme Court's Drug and Alcohol Sentencing List, which Ms Walker had a key role in establishing and overseeing in 2019-20.
The woman's success led to her reuniting with her children, who had been removed from her care.
"That's something the whole community would love to see," Ms Walker says.
"If we were to talk about the other end of the spectrum, one of my saddest moments was in relation to a young man who suffered from mental illness.
"His mother had attended court to indicate she would be available in Canberra 24 hours a day with him if he were to be bailed to her care."
Ms Walker says he was granted bail but tragically died by suicide.
"That is absolutely no reflection on her whatsoever," she says.
"What she was doing for her son was amazing, but as a mother, that cut me."
The chief magistrate, whose four sons are now aged between 17 and 29, says she is no expert when asked about life advice to other mothers in court as she does not know their full stories.
For herself, she wishes she knew as a first-time mother what she knows now because "I had no idea and I made so many mistakes along the way".
She cites the Children's Court as also helping her learn about parenthood, especially if "your kids know that you'll always be there for them no matter what".
"That creates a very special bond and you can never love your kids too much," she says.
"Something that's amazed me and something that's relevant to both of my roles is when I was young, I thought I knew everything.
"The older I get, the more I realise I don't know."
She has also learned about key life lessons from her children for which she is "really grateful for".
"I thought I'd be doing all the teaching, but it's actually probably been at least reciprocal if not more that I've learnt from them than they've learnt from me," she says.
'Parenting is the most difficult and rewarding thing'
Ms Walker's colleague Magistrate Louise Taylor, sworn in as the territory's first Aboriginal judicial officer in 2018, says she always tries to keep in mind when someone attends court, "it often represents a very significant day in their life".
"They are entitled to their moment and to my careful attention and consideration of the matter they are involved in," Ms Taylor says.
During her decades of practice - including as Legal Aid deputy chief executive and long-time chairwoman of the ACT Women's Legal Centre - most cases stay with her as they often involve unspeakable sadness and trauma.
"Occasions like Mother's Day are one of those times when I do reflect on the children who should be with their mothers and aren't, and the mothers who don't have their children in their arms and should," she says.
"I am regularly struck by the resilience, love and generosity of spirit that many caregivers and parents extend to the children in their lives who make poor decisions or who are impacted by the poor decisions of others."
As for the interplay between work and motherhood, Ms Taylor says the former influences the latter "to the extent that I keenly understand that life and people can be cruel, random and unfair with no explanation".
"Like any parent or caregiver, I instinctively want to protect my children from some of the harsh realities of life," she says.
"On the other hand, I also want to equip them to move around in the world confidently, with curiosity, with empathy for others and with a strong desire to have a positive impact on their community.
"Both roles also consistently confirm that parenting is the most difficult and rewarding thing I have ever done."
She hopes her enthusiasm influences her children to approach life with that in mind.
"In particular as Aboriginal people, I hope they aspire to contribute to improving the lives of our people and continue to feel a responsibility to showcase and celebrate our culture in the way they live their lives," Ms Taylor says.
While her four children are known to complain about her cross examination at the dinner table, she now understands "the workings of TikTok and Facebook far better than I ever wished for thanks to both my children and the folks I interact with at work".
Like the chief magistrate, Ms Taylor prefers to avoid giving life advice to other mothers.
"What I do know when I think back on my own life is that the advice given to me by my own mother, especially as a teenager, was rarely wrong but often under appreciated at the time. Sorry, mum," she says.
She also believes the pursuit of perfection is exhausting and, for the most part, boring.
"Household chores are best ignored in favour of a good book and a cup of tea someone else has brewed," she says.
"And finally, cereal for dinner is totally acceptable."
