Blunder on, parents, it's all good.

5/26/07 - By Anna Fader
Moms seem to have an endless capacity for self-doubt and insecurities about their mothering skills. I won't try to conjecture why that is, but I did see a quote in the New York Times that sums up the feeling quite eloquently.
I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate everybody and everything. One lives only to make blunders.

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That's a quote from Charles Darwin in a letter to the Scottish geologist Charles Lyell in 1861. I always find it a little heartening to know that people that have no place being insecure feel just as inadequate as I do. Then I can believe that my feelings are just as illfounded as theirs obviously are. So take solace my friends, your feelings of inadequacy are no more founded or sincerely felt than that of one of the world's great geniuses.

About the Author

Anna Fader

Founder of Mommy Poppins

A fourth-generation Brooklynite, Anna started Mommy Poppins in 2007 to help families find the best things to do with kids in NYC, with a particular emphasis on sharing activities that are free, affordable, and enriching. The site, used by millions of families, has grown to become the ultimate resource for parents in the major US cities, plus travel guides for 100s of destinations.

Anna is a believer in the magic of summer camps, traveling with kids, and that you can raise kids on a budget and still have a rich life full of amazing memories. Anna's first Mommy Poppins book, The Young Traveler's Journal and Activity Book, published in 2025 and co-written with her daughter, Amelia Eigerman, brings that ethos to life, in addition to this website.