Welcome to the bookcase. I am Kate Gibson, and I am the anxious mother of two. I'm going to introduce myself that way for this show in particular, and why we'll become clear in just a minute.

And I'm Charlie Gibson, father of two, grandfather of five. And today we bring you Mary Laura Philpott.

If you don't know her writings, you should.

She has written two books, one of them Just Out, essays on the subject of parenting.

And she speaks to all parents, young and old.

The two books, the first one is I miss you when I blink. The second book,

as I say, just out is bomb shelter. And Katie called me when we were talking about how we do

early podcasts, and she said, Dad, we've got to book Mary Laura Phil Potts. How come, Kate?

Well, I don't know. I don't mean to overgeneralize,

and I should really speak to my own experience. But there is something for me as a mom, to writers who

speak to the humor and the neuroses of being a mom, Irma Bombbeck, Nora Ephron, and I put Mary Laura

Philpot in that club. And writers like that are really important for my sanity, and I'll tell you

why. A couple of nights ago, my eight-year-old daughter comes patting into my room in her pajamas,

and I think to myself, okay, what's up? Maybe she wants a drink

of water. Maybe she needs to use the bathroom. But no, no, she plops herself on the end of my bed

and starts asking me questions about death. So I put my book down and I answered the questions

in the best way I knew how, which I'm sure was terrible.

And the whole time I'm thinking, this is another three years of therapy I'm giving her.

This another three years of therapy bills right here, because I was not prepared for this conversation.

And when she walked out, I thought to myself, oh, God, I don't think I did that right.

I know when we would get calls from you or your sister that began,

Hi, Mom, we knew that things were not good.

...