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Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace

Book by Ayelet Waldman · 9 quotes · Children, Feels, Mother

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Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace Quotes

“Gym class was, of course, where the strongest, best-looking kids were made captains and chose us spazzes last. More important, it was where the figures of supposed authority allowed them to do so. Forget the work our parents did molding our minds and values. Everything fell apart as soon as we put on those maroon polyester gym suits.”

MindMadeImportantKidsLastsValuesCoursesParentForgetClassFiguresAuthoritySuitsStrongestGymCaptainsMoldingGym ClassMaroon
Book:Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace
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“When we choose to have an abortion, we must do so understanding the full ramifications of what we are doing. Anything less feels to me to be hypocritical, a selfish abnegation of reality and responsibility.”

FeelsRealityUnderstandingResponsibilitySelfishAbortionHypocriticalAbnegationRamifications
Book:Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace
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“I believe that mothers should tell the truth, even - no, especially - when the truth is difficult. It's always easier, and in the short term can even feel right, to pretend everything is okay, and to encourage your children to do the same. But concealment leads to shame, and of all hurts shame is the most painful.”

FeelsShouldBelieveChildrenMotherI BelieveDifficultTermHurtInspiringEasierTruth IsOkayShamePainfulYour ChildrenTelling The TruthMothers DayShort TermFeels RightConcealment
Book:Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace
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“One of the darkest, deepest shames so many of us mothers feel nowadays is our fear that we are Bad Mothers, that we are failing our children and falling far short of our own ideals.”

FeelsChildrenMotherFallInspiringFailingIdealsShameOur ChildrenMothers DayBad Mother
Book:Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace
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“Before I was married, I didn't consider my failure to manage even basic hand tools a feminist inadequacy. I thought it had more to do with being Jewish. The Jews I knew growing up didn't do 'do-it-yourself.' When my father needed to hammer something he generally used his shoe, and the only real tool he owned was a pair of needle-nose pliers.”

RealHandsUsedFatherGrowing UpGrowingNeededMarriedToolsShoesJewFeministManageNosesPairsHammersNeedlesInadequacyDo It YourselfPliers
Book:Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace
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“I pity the young woman who will attempt to insinuate herself between my mama's boy and me. I sympathize with the monumental nature of her task. It will take a crowbar, two bulldozers and half a dozen Molotov cocktails to pry my Oedipus and me loose from one another.”

TwoYoungHalfBoysTasksPityDozenYoung WomenMamaCocktailsOedipusBulldozersMolotovMolotov CocktailMama's Boy
Book:Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace
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“The capacity for extravagant emotion that my husband finds so attractive in me can be exhausting, especially to a child. My moods are mercurial, and this can be terrifying. I know, because I was a daughter of a mother with a changeable temperament.”

KnowsChildrenMotherEmotionHusbandDaughterCapacityMoodAttractiveMy HusbandTemperamentExhaustingExtravagant
Book:Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace
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