The Perfect Mother

I just googled "Jane Swigart" and discovered that her book has also been published under the title of "The Myth of the Perfect Mother". I think this is interesting. Perhaps she should have put them both together and titled it "The Myths of the Perfect and the Bad Mother". Either way, the subtitle is great: "Parenting Without Guilt".
The back of the book I have borrowed says the following:

"Good mothers" are loving, nurturing and all-giving. "Bad mothers" are self-absorbed, uncaring, and inadequate. To this popular image mothers everywhere respond with determination to be "the good mother". Yet despite their best efforts, many women secretly fear they are failing, and ask themselves:
-Why am I often angry, resentful, and bored by the demands of childcare?
-Why do I feel overworked, with no sense of accomplishment?
-Do my negative feelings brand me a "bad mother"?
Now Jane Swigart explodes the "good mother/bad mother" myth. Drawing on her experiences as a therapist and as a mother, along with interviews with hundreds of parents and health-care professionals, Dr. Swigart explores the emotional realities of motherhood and the effects of a culture that simultaneously idealizes and devalues the mother's role.

In this blog, I will be exploring my own experiences and emotions as a mother using Dr. Swigart's book as a reference. Hopefully by doing this, I will also "explode" the myth of the bad or perfect mother.