Untraditionally Lala

The Myth of the Perfect Mom

15 min
May 18, 202613 days ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Lala Kent and guest Amber discuss the myth of the 'perfect mom' and the unrealistic expectations placed on mothers balancing career, parenting, and personal fulfillment. They explore mom guilt, single parenthood challenges, and the importance of self-grace while managing multiple roles without a partner to share responsibilities.

Insights
  • The 'perfect mom' narrative is fundamentally incompatible with being a successful professional woman; mothers must choose where to focus energy rather than excel equally in all areas
  • Single mothers face compounded guilt and pressure because they lack a partner to distribute household and childcare responsibilities, yet society holds them to the same standards as partnered mothers
  • Self-compassion and reframing 'imperfection' as normal is critical for maternal mental health; beating oneself up over unmet expectations creates additional emotional burden
  • Children primarily need parental presence and emotional availability rather than perfect execution of all tasks; quality moments matter more than comprehensive coverage
  • Societal judgment of mothers often reflects the judge's own unresolved experiences with motherhood rather than objective assessment of parenting quality
Trends
Growing cultural conversation around rejecting the 'having it all' myth and normalizing trade-offs in work-life balanceIncreased openness from high-profile women about maternal guilt and the emotional toll of single parenthoodShift toward redefining 'good mothering' as presence and emotional connection rather than task completionRising awareness of how partnership dynamics (or lack thereof) fundamentally change the feasibility of balancing multiple life rolesNormalization of mothers pursuing personal ambitions and career goals as beneficial modeling for children rather than selfish behavior
Companies
Bista Village
Fashion retailer offering summer event with 30% off select lines and brands from May 22-31
iHeartMedia
Podcast network distributing Untraditionally Lala as part of their content portfolio
People
Lala Kent
Host discussing her personal experiences with single motherhood, career ambitions, and maternal guilt
Amber Childers
Guest co-host discussing parallel experiences with motherhood, stress management, and self-compassion
Quotes
"I do not have it all together and I do not have the answer because there are pockets of time where I'm like, oh, I'm crushing it. I have such a well balanced life right now. And then all of a sudden something happens and I feel like my house is chaotic."
Lala KentEarly in episode
"I don't think that you could be a super successful woman and be the best mom, the mom of the year, the mom who's making like the lunches, going to all the games, volunteering at the school."
Amber ChildersMid-episode
"You will never understand the pressure, the guilt, the sadness, the loneliness. Even when I'm happy, those moments of thinking about the overall, you will never understand because you don't know what it's like to go through a custody battle over a seven month old baby at the age of 31."
Lala KentMid-episode
"Mom, I'm doing the best I can. Yeah. And that's okay. And if you don't, if you feel differently about it, like if it's my mom or my sister, if you feel differently, like that is a you problem."
Amber ChildersLate episode
"That is why women have been trying to figure this out for centuries. Women trekking across the fucking plains. Bonnets, full dresses, maybe a little heel. Baby on the boob."
Lala KentLate episode
Full Transcript
This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Bask in the calm and charm of Bista Village. Join us for the summer event and refresh your wardrobe with an extra 30% off the village price from the 22nd to the 31st of May. Select lines and brands, T's and C's apply. See Bista Village.com. Bista Village. The thrill of discovery. Hello gorgeous. It's Lala Kent. Welcome to Untraditionally Lala. Hello gorgeous. Welcome to the bonus episode of Untraditionally Lala. Amber, my bonus today. Hey baby. Hello. How do you manage to be such a great mother despite the ample stress in your life? So this question came through and I felt like it deserved a moment as a bonus because the number one thing that I feel people ask me all the time, whether it's me doing a panel or doing a Q and A on socials, bumping into someone who's been watching the show for however many years, they're like, how do you find balance in your life? And I think because people follow on social media or they watch you from such a distance, right? That it seems like it's so easy to find the balance of like work and being a mom and the stress that comes with paying the bills and mom guilt. I don't. I do not have it all together and I do not have the answer because there are pockets of time where I'm like, oh, I'm crushing it. I have such a well balanced life right now. And then all of a sudden something happens and I feel like my house is chaotic. I feel like I wasn't emotionally present with my children or mentally. I feel like work has just become an overload and I start to tweak out. Do you have those moments? Like, does mom guilt exist in the world of having tween slash teen daughters who think as you say, you're cringe and uncool? It's really hard and it's something that I'm trying to learn to balance and be gentle on myself because I literally could, can beat myself up. And there's people in my life that also make me feel really guilty for just trying to be able to like raise teenage daughters and be present for them. But like when you go home, they really don't, they just like want to do their own thing, but you just need to be in the room, like in your own room, just there when they need you. I think it's really difficult, but I, I don't think that you could be a, a super successful woman and be the best mom, the mom of the year, the mom who's making like, you know, the lunches, going to all the games, volunteering at the school. Like I just don't, we don't have it in us. Like, yes, we can multitask little things throughout the day, but what I'm learning in the last probably six to eight months of my life is right now my kids are, I'm, they're going to have to just be patient with me because I'm trying to do something in my life for the first time. And I, you know, it's only going to benefit them. It doesn't mean I'm completely absent, but being a single mom, I don't have a husband at home that's, that's picking up the 90% of the slack because I'm not there. Right. And I have heard in partnerships, everyone talks about like the 100%, but it doesn't mean that it's like 50, 50 all the time. There are going to be times where your partner is only capable of giving 20% and you have to pick up the slack and vice versa. But I'm in the same boat as you where it's like, I want to make, I want to create something great, right? And I have a lot of things that I want to accomplish in this lifetime. Being a good mom is definitely on the top of my priority list. Obviously my children are very young. I have to stay present for them. I also have to make sure that I can afford to put them in school and feed them and keep them housed. LA is an expensive place. Everywhere is getting expensive. But there are those moments like I, I haven't been able to take ocean to school consistently. And I don't even know how long, like Easton is single-handedly saving the household on getting ocean to school. My mom with the hip surgery, like she usually makes the lunch because it's just a lot of chaos. And I get what you mean by saying that the people around you, your kids are old enough to like understand, you know, I can't tell ocean, like you need to be patient with mom right now. Yeah. Yeah. But the level of like mom guilt that has presented itself. And I want to say the past like maybe six to eight months is so wild to me. And my mom said to me the other day, and I wanted to cut this bitch for it. Okay. Cause I was like, just emotional. And I too get worried about what the future looks like and what it holds. And there are times where rejection really fucking gets to me and you replay at night, every bad moment. It's like Scott Disick when he's like in keeping up with the Kardashians, they ask him something and he's like, Oh, at night, I just replay every bad thing that's ever happened in my life. And I'm like, I'm so there with you. Like every wrong move. And she said to me, cause I've been very, I've been very transparent that being a stay at home mom and just being a mom is not fulfilling to me. That, that like I need other things. Yeah. You know, and there are some people who are like me and other people are like, Oh, I live for being a stay at home mom. I have like four or five kids and I love that. God bless those women. Whatever floats your motherfucking boat. For me, I need more. So I was telling my mom, I can't have my world consist of just work and being a mom. And she says, I'm, I was just a mom while I had like a little job, but like, I was just a mom. I said, you also had the love of your life who you had children with. You had friends who were in marriages that you would go out with. So that was your social cup. You will never understand the pressure, the guilt, the sadness, the loneliness. Even when I'm, even when I'm happy, those moments of thinking about the overall, you will never understand because you don't know what it's like to go through a custody battle over a seven month old baby at the age of 31 and then trying to decide what move you're going to make. Are you going to cry? Yeah. Oh yeah. Keep going. It's emotional, right? Yeah. It's fucking hard. And I think about these. I had a very similar conversation with my mom and I also had a conversation with my little sister regarding a disagreement that I had with my older sister. And I said, autumn, she will never understand what it's fucking like to walk through life like I have. And guess what? I take responsibility for the mistakes that I've made, but I can't even put into words the pain, the agony, the fucking stress, the night sweats, the like, like just the way my like she will never understand. And I don't expect her to. So that's why like when people start being passive aggressive with their comments or giving me shit or I get like that little, like I just fucking like I already beat myself up so fucking much that like I can't, I don't, I can't take anymore. Like I, it just hurts. I'm trying to learn to be gentle and softer with myself when it comes to this. You, from the outside looking in, and I've also been in the inside watching this whole dynamic, you're fucking crushing it. Thank you. I mean, you take moments, like the moment that. Ocean woke up this morning and you hugged her. That's what she needs. She needs that like that cup, that mommy love cup filled up. And now she's at school. She's having the best day of her life. Yeah. Playing with her friends. Like she was so excited to like get dressed and do her hair and put on her outfit. It's we, we really need to give ourselves a little more grace and say like, mom, I'm doing the best I can. Yeah. And that's okay. And if you don't, if you feel differently about it, like if it's my mom or my sister, if you feel differently, like that is a you problem. That is you replaying your own experience as a mother or your experience with your mom growing up, like it's our stories are not going to be the same. No. At all. And I don't want to have to explain that to someone because then you're placing me in a position where I feel like I'm pigeonholing myself into victim mode, talking about all of the things that I've had to go through where it's like, but I'm navigating. I'm not, you're making, you're forcing me to, to point out all of these things that are different about my life than your life. And you know, my mom went from her parents' house to getting married to my dad and moving into his house. She had Easton the whole times that she then sold our family home and moved into another home with Easton. And then she moved in with me. So she's never going to understand that feeling of being pushed out of what feels like being pushed out of an aircraft. And you just prayed to God that whatever is on your back fucking comes out so that you land safely. Like the things that I do on a regular basis, even when I'm going through heartbreak, the toughest time of my life, the constant rejection, I'm like, I am out here trying to wear a many hat. I'm the mom, the dad, the wife, the husband. I'm the chef. All the things. So if I'm slacking in a moment, I need you to like give me a little bit of grace because I'm already feeling it myself. And let me tell you, I don't think if there was a dad involved that he would sit there and be like, didn't make the kids lunch this morning. Cause I had to get to work. I really feel like the balance is off. But the moms are like out here ready to pull their hair out. And now I've never related to the Milano, the old Milano cookie ad more. When she's sitting in the bathroom, just pretending to like maybe take a shit. I don't know. Door locked. She's just like, I just need a minute. It reminds me of you and I in the closet. Yeah. You walked into the closet. It was dark and I was just like puffing away. She goes, what are you doing in here? I was like, oh, but those moments are the best. And then I just sat down and I said, I don't puff, but can I have a puff? And you said here, puff away. We both puff, puff, puff. And we said, you know, we're going to be okay. In this dark closet. That was such a great moment. Oh, what? That was such a great moment. And then we started spiraling in the greatest way. We were like, all the things we wanted to do. She was like, do you have a permanent marker? I was like, is this weave that we've had? Well, let me make sure that this is the right. Let's just like start writing it on the wall. I was like, permanent marker on the floor. That way I'll always see it. I'll always see it. It'll never be gone. I'll always be reminded. She was maybe on the back of your door. We'll write it on the back of your door in permanent marker. We, it was like a tailspin. But that my loves is called being a fucking woman. And it's a lot, but no one closes like a woman. No one. No one. We went to an AA meeting last night, got dinner with our sober sisters. I got home. I fucking did the dishes. I whipped up lunch. I put it in the fridge. I got her snack laid out. I got her clothes ready. And I was ready to roll this morning. Six 45. I'm up ready for my fucking workout. I know. So you know what? You're fucking winning. You're winning. Lala's winning everybody. Unless you're here to tell me that I'm doing great, sweetie. Unless you're here to Chris Jenner my ass off. Shut the fuck up. Yeah. Good. Oh God. Thank God you're fucking back. Oh my God. I thought I lost you for a second. So for my, my womanly sister who said, how do you manage to be such a great mother despite the ample stress in your life? I'm in the same boat as I'm doing the same thing that you're doing. Yeah. There is no difference. Sometimes I lose. Sometimes I win. But guess what? We survived the day. Yeah. He had to laugh. Yeah. Laughter. And a good Cardi B song can always get you through a hard moment. Yes. Her new album. It dropped like a little bit ago. It is so good. And it's called. Am I the drama? Yeah. By the way, I think am I? Probably. Probably. There's no manual. There is no fucking manual for anything. That is why women have been trying to figure this out for centuries. Yeah. For real though. And women trekking across the fucking plains. Bonnets, full dresses, maybe a little heel. Baby on the boob. Yeah. I mean, yeah. And the husband is coming to like fuck her so they could keep procreating. So like if one baby dies off. I hope it works out. Gotta go ride on my horse. Check the next location. By the way, yeah. I feel like you have the easy job. My next life, maybe I'll come back as a dude. I don't know. And then don't even get me started when this spiral happens and I go, and you want to know what I would like a drink to take the edge off. But I can't. Right. Right. Now try being fucking sober doing this shit. Okay. I'm crazy. I admit it. I can't take it. I'm crazy for all of my mother's doing it all. Doing it all because no matter what situation you're in, stay at home. Mom, you're the breadwinner. Doesn't matter. You are doing it all. You are seen, you are heard. I feel for you. Wow. That was like cathartic. It is. That's what this podcast is all about. Thank you, Amber, for being on my bonus episode. I love you so much. Let's go slay the day. For you guys, I may be in a slight spiral, but you know what? What's great about hitting the bottom? There's no way to go up and up. Yep. So here we go. Let's take on the day. I love you guys. Happy Monday. I will catch you on Wednesday for a regular old episode. And remember an unlikely affair with myself and Amber Childers airs every Thursday night, 9 PM, where you can catch it the next day. Love you. Bye. This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.