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This paper explores strategies Polish migrant mothers undertake in order to achieve a state of 'normalcy' as they perceive it themselves, in particular with reference to their children's education and to their future prospects in the UK. 'Normalcy' in this paper denotes a state which is desired, projected and placed in the future rather than seen as everyday reality which surrounds the mothers. This article focuses on various ways the mothers negotiate in order to achieve the desired status and state of well-being and discusses these in the light of Pierre Bourdieu's habitus and capital and with reference to Erving Goffman's notions of normality, stigma and rules of conduct. I look at three aspects through which mothers strive to reach their imagined 'normalcy': (1) a belief in meritocratic values; (2) the feeling of 'classlessness' and (3) management of the 'migrant stigma'. The study is based on qualitative in-depth interviews with 36 Polish migrant mothers mainly from London with children in primary or secondary state schools. Even though it could be said that mothers as a social group represent social heterogeneity, the majority of the mothers in the study are educated to a post-compulsory level, having some sort of post A-level qualifications. Half of the 36 mothers arrived in the UK after Poland's EU accession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]