I believe that mothers should tell the truth, even—no, especially—when the truth is difficult. It’s always easier, and in the short term can even feel right, to pretend everything is okay, and to encourage your children to do the same. But concealment leads to shame, and of all hurts shame is the most painful.
—Ayelet Waldman, “On Feeling Like a ‘Bad Mother’,” NPR, June 4th, 2010