Today on the show we’re talking about a fascinating topic — how to unlearn the idea of being a so-called “good mom.” We’re chatting today with Nancy Reddy, author of The Good Mother Myth: Unlearning Our Bad Ideas About How to Be a Good Mom, which comes out January 21 and helps us unwind, as the title suggests, “the good mother myth” and myths we’ve been told over the years about what it means to be quote-unquote “good” in the mom department. In this book, Nancy presents so much science-backed advice when it comes to parenting; in today’s episode we talk about whether she sees parenting as an art, a science, or a little bit of both; so-called “mom guilt” and why it’s so pervasive; why “the good mother myth” is wrong, but seductive nonetheless; how suffocating expectations put on mothers can be, and how it makes mothers feel like they’re not good enough (which is a fallacy); how so many ideas of motherhood are antiquated and no longer serve us; and so much more. In addition to The Good Mother Myth, Nancy also wrote the poetry collections Pocket Universe and Double Jinx, which was a winner of the National Poetry Series, and alongside Emily Pérez, Nancy is the co-editor of The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood. Nancy’s essays have appeared everywhere from Slate to Romper, Poets & Writers, The Millions, and elsewhere, and in addition to teaching writing at Stockton University, she writes the newsletter “Write More, Be Less Careful.” Take a listen to our really compelling conversation.

The Good Mother Myth: Unlearning Our Bad Ideas About How to Be a Good Mom by Nancy Reddy