📘 When Parents Hurt – by Joshua Coleman
If you’ve ever struggled with parental estrangement, this is a book you simply shouldn’t skip. In When Parents Hurt, Joshua Coleman dives deep into the pain parents experience when their child distances themselves or cuts off contact completely. He combines psychological expertise with genuine empathy for a topic that is still far too often left unspoken: the broken hearts of parents rejected by their own children. What makes this book so valuable is that it doesn’t promise quick fixes, but instead helps you understand how these situations develop and how deeply they can affect your life.
What touched me personally is that Coleman creates space for emotions without judgment. He offers practical tools to cope with feelings of loss, guilt, and shame, without making you feel like you’ve failed. It’s not a book you simply finish and put away—it stays with you and helps guide you through finding a new path during one of life’s most difficult seasons.
📗 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – by Mark Manson
As the “worst mother,” I became something of an expert in caring too much about everything—and believe me, that’s exhausting. Constantly trying to meet expectations—society’s, your family’s, your own—drains your energy in all the wrong places. That started to change when I discovered The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck.
Manson doesn’t teach you to stop caring altogether, but to consciously choose what actually deserves your energy. It sounds simple, but if you’re someone who tries to carry everything at once, you know how complicated that can be. For me, this book felt like a guide to finally setting priorities and boundaries—something I had struggled with for years. His blunt, humorous writing style made me feel both understood and gently confronted (in a good way).
One of the most important lessons for me was that it’s okay to disappoint others sometimes, as long as you stay true to yourself. That’s not selfish—it’s healthy. This book gave me clarity, peace, and—most importantly—the freedom to focus on what truly matters.
📺 Black Mirror – episode Arkangel
As a mother and the writer of the worst mother, I often find myself tangled in the complexity of motherhood—the responsibility, the fear of failing, and the deep desire to protect my child from the world. All of these themes come together in a raw and confronting way in the episode Arkangel from Black Mirror.
In this episode, a mother is given the ability to monitor her daughter constantly through an implant, filter her reality, and shield her from anything painful or traumatic. At first, it sounds like every parent’s dream—total control, total safety. But as we all know, there is no perfect way to raise a child, and too much control can quickly turn into a nightmare.
What struck me most is how clearly it shows that overprotection can lead to disconnection. The more control the mother exerts, the further her daughter pulls away. It reflects a struggle many parents will recognize: finding the balance between protecting and letting go. It’s a powerful reminder that there are limits to what we can control—and that sometimes love means allowing space, even when that feels unbearable.
📺 Bonusfamiljen
If you’ve ever struggled with the chaos of a blended family—stepchildren, ex-partners, and all the emotional complexity that comes with it—then Bonusfamiljen is absolutely worth watching. This Swedish series takes you into the reality of modern families, where love and frustration often exist side by side.
What makes this series so powerful is its honesty. Everything that can go wrong often does—but that’s exactly why it feels so real. Between the tension, it also shows moments of humor, connection, and genuine love that make it all worthwhile.
You’ll laugh, you’ll recognize situations, and sometimes it will hit close to home. It shows that parenting is not a perfect story, but an ongoing attempt to find balance in a world full of emotions. And more than once, you’ll probably find yourself wondering: how do they keep going?—and that’s exactly what makes this series so relatable and so strong.
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