Summary: I’m taking a bit of a hiatus from podcast scheduling over the holiday season. But with more than 70 episodes in the vault, there are plenty of great conversations to re-visit. Today, I’m once again sharing my interview with the fabulous Willow Yamauchi. It was seriously the most fun I’ve ever had during a podcast. If you could use a good laugh, you’ll want to listen, whether for the first, second or fifth time. 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. If you had any doubts about my hippie roots, revealing my middle name should have put them to rest. 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: Over the next two weeks on the Strocel.com podcast I’ll be re-sharing my interview with Marcy Axness, author of Parenting for Peace. Our conversation was so amazing that I had to break it up into two parts. We covered a lot of ground, and I had a lot of my parenting pre-conceptions challenged. I’ve listened to the conversation many times myself, and I can tell you that I’ve learned something from Marcy each time. Subscribe to the Strocel.com podcast in iTunes, and you won’t miss a minute! Also, if you have a podcast idea, please share it with me. I’d love to hear your suggestions!
