15: "What Do Children Need Most From a Mother?"

This week, Shain, Sarah, and Sarah’s sister Mara gather in Phoenix to discuss Heartwood by Amity Gaige—a novel that sparked a much larger conversation about mothers, daughters, and the stories we tell about our families. What begins as a discussion of the book’s intertwined mother-daughter relationships quickly becomes a reflection on their own. Together, they explore how siblings can grow up with completely different experiences of the same parent, what children need most from the people who raise them, and the tension between accepting our parents as they are and longing for the parents we wish we'd had. Along the way, Shain reflects on how her approach to motherhood changed over two decades and two daughters, while Sarah and Mara share their perspectives on growing up with the same mother at very different stages of life. Their conversation touches on attachment, expectations, repair, and the possibility of growth on both sides of the parent-child relationship. It's an honest, funny, and deeply personal conversation about family, memory, and what it means to love imperfect people. Have a question you'd like answered on-air? Submit it through our google form. All submissions are anonymous: even though you sign in with your email address, we do not have access to it unless you purposefully toggle on the option to share it. And follow us on Instagram at @listentomymother !