Honest Motherhood: On Losing My Mind and Finding Myself by Libby Ward

An unflinchingly honest and disarmingly funny memoir from an exhausted mom who broke under the pressure to do it all, faced her past, found herself—and learned to let go of perfection and just serve the dang chicken nuggets.

"Libby is shifting the cultural narrative in a way that will echo for generations. Honest Motherhood is a powerful blend of truth-telling and rebellion—a rallying cry for women to stop carrying what was never theirs to hold." —Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play

When Libby Ward became a mother at twenty-six, she thought she was prepared. Determined to give her kids a childhood different from her own, she clung to the world’s “shoulds” like her children's future depended on it. That was her first mistake.

A couple years later, with a toddler around her ankle, a needy baby in her arms, and silent rage coursing through her veins, Libby began to unravel. Struggling to manage the unrelenting and often unspoken expectations of mothering, she did what any overfunctioning people-pleaser would do—she wallowed in shame. Then, she tried harder. Self-care! Boundaries! Sleep when the baby sleeps! But as Libby’s body and mind began to push back, Libby wondered: Why, with so much information and advice at our fingertips, is motherhood still so impossibly hard?

In Honest Motherhood, Libby candidly shares her journey of unlearning the myth of the ideal mother. She dives headfirst into the experiences many mothers have but few feel safe enough to say out loud—the lack of support, the guilt, the invisibility, the cycles they’re breaking, and the fantasies about a hospital stay just to get a flippin’ break. Libby untangles her social conditioning from learned trauma responses and discovers that letting go of unrealistic standards, asking for help, and prioritizing herself aren’t failures—they’re necessities.

Equal parts memoir and manifesto, flush with refreshing takeaways, Honest Motherhood is a rallying cry for moms to let go of perfection, choose themselves, and give their kids what they need most—a mother who is present and whole.