Picture it: Christmas, 2010. My husband Jon comes across a book called Adult Child of Hippies by Willow Yamauchi. Immediately, he knows that he should buy it for me, as I myself am an adult child of hippies. On Christmas morning I open the book. I promptly devour it. I laugh heartily, in a knowing fashion, at such gems as:
You know you are an Adult Child of Hippies if…
You chewed licorice roots as a treat.
- and –
You know you are an Adult Child of Hippies if…
You shaved your legs as an act of rebellion.
As an extra-fun bonus fact, my mother really wanted to name me Willow, but my father didn’t like the name. Instead, I was named Amber Dawn. Given our similar pasts I felt a certain kinship with Willow Yamauchi after reading her book, even though I’d never actually spoken with her.
Bad Mommy
Fast forward 17 months, and Willow herself got in touch with me via my job at VancouverMom.ca, telling us about her new book, Bad Mommy. I knew immediately that:
- I had to read the book.
- I wanted to interview Willow Yamauchi.
Luckily, Willow is an incredibly good sport. She left a copy of Bad Mommy hanging in a bag from her doorknob at her house in East Vancouver. I stopped by, picked it up, and devoured this one, too.
The premise of Bad Mommy is that, as parents – and particularly as mothers – we’re served a heaping helping of guilt and blame. There’s simply no way to do everything right when it comes to raising kids. From the moment of conception someone, somewhere, believes you’re doing something wrong. Childhood vaccines are a perfect example. Miss one, and you’re a bad mommy. Vaccinate your child at all, and you’re a bad mommy. There’s no shortage of ways to fail your children at every turn. Willow’s turning that on its head so that we can laugh at it, and liberate ourselves from the cycle of mom guilt.
Willow and I set up a time to chat, and she was every bit as awesome as I knew she’d be. We talked about our respective hippie childhoods (hers was way more hardcore than mine), all the ways that we fail as parents, and what it means to embrace the “bad mommy” label. If you’re tired of trying to do everything right and failing, Willow says that it’s time to do what works for you. And you know what? I agree completely.
Strocel.com Podcast with Willow Yamauchi
If you’re a mom, an adult child of hippies, or you’d just like a good laugh, you’ll want to listen to what Willow had to say:
Next week on the Strocel.com podcast I’ll be sharing an interview with Shannon Henry Kleiber, who just released the book On my Honor: Real Life Lessons From America’s First Girl Scout, about Juliette Gordon Low. If you have ever been a Girl Guide or Girl Scout, if you’re interested in the movement, or if you’d just like to hear about an inspiring woman who was decades ahead of her time, you’ll want to tune in. Subscribe to the Strocel.com podcast in iTunes, and you won’t miss a minute!
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Really enjoyed listening to this – especially liked the barely contained sense of hilarity right under the surface of both your voices throughout. Now I’ve two more books to look forward to! Thanks!
Melissa’s last post … Upping the Ante
Actually, the hilarity is not that contained at all….
Twitter: AmberStrocel
says:
No, it really wasn’t. I said this to my husband about my interview with Willow: “I’m not sure if everyone else will appreciate it, but that was the most fun I’ve ever had doing a podcast!”