Cherlyn and her mom

Would've Been the Mean Mommy

From: Hillary Frank
Series: The Longest Shortest Time
Length: 12:28

A woman becomes a mom at the precise moment that her own mother decides to stop being a mother. Read the full description.

WITH Intro

NO Intro

Playing: Would've Been the Mean Mommy
From: Hillary Frank

Cherlyn_mom_small When Cherlyn Wagner was pregnant, she sort of imagined that as a mom she’d come to play the role of her own mother: the mean mommy. But when Cherlyn is 32 weeks along, her mom commits suicide and Cherlyn has to become a mother at the precise moment her own mother stops being a mother altogether. When Cherlyn's son is born, she makes a decision. She is going to be a (relatively) laid back mom.

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Piece Description

When Cherlyn Wagner was pregnant, she sort of imagined that as a mom she’d come to play the role of her own mother: the mean mommy. But when Cherlyn is 32 weeks along, her mom commits suicide and Cherlyn has to become a mother at the precise moment her own mother stops being a mother altogether. When Cherlyn's son is born, she makes a decision. She is going to be a (relatively) laid back mom.

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

IF USING THE "NO INTRO" VERSION:

Cherlyn (SHIRR-lynn) Wagner's (WAGG-nehr)mom was always on Cherlyn's case about something--the socks not being folded the right way, the table not being dusted. But Cherlyn's friends thought she was the nicest mom--in public she put on a happy face. Turned out, Cherlyn's mom was bipolar. Something Cherlyn figured out when she was 16 and walked in on her mom passed out with a bunch of nearly empty pill bottles. As you can imagine, this story is a sad one. As part of her podcast The Longest Shortest Time, Hillary Frank, a radio producer and new mom, talked to Cherlyn about what happened years later, when Cherlyn was about to become a mother herself. She's 32 weeks pregnant--she's big. It's a Friday afternoon, she's in the office. The phone rings. And it's her uncle...

OUTRO:

Cherlyn (SHIRR-lynn) Wagner (WAGG-nehr) is a project manager at a green construction firm in Oakland, CA. She and her husband are expecting their second child in September.

This interview originally aired as part of the Longest Shortest Time podcast. To hear more stories about struggles in early parenthood--or to tell your own story--go to longestshortesttime.com.