Krumm says being a good mother is nearly impossible

Actress Piret Krumm says mothers are too often categorised as either good or bad. In an interview with ERR’s Ringvaade, she discussed motherhood ahead of the monologue performance The World’s Best Worst Mother, which will open in Tallinn in early October.

Krumm said she and playwright Andra Teede had been considering for a long time how to unpack the experience of motherhood.

“Because mothers are largely alone, even though they are never alone again, it seemed that one mother’s dark night of the soul should be brought onto the stage,” Krumm said, explaining why they chose the monologue format.

Krumm, who welcomed her first child at the beginning of last year, said she had been surprised by the way mothers are divided into good and bad categories. The performance also addresses that issue.

“Considering how the criteria have changed today, being a good mother is a relatively impossible mission,” she said, adding that mothers are accompanied by feelings of guilt at every step.

“You are not a proper mother if you do not have a guilty conscience ready in your pocket,” Krumm said with a smile.

Becoming a mother has also changed Krumm’s attitude towards her own mother and other mothers, as well as her perception of herself.

“Of course, the rhythm is different because everything is different. Your body is different, and you do not quite understand who you really are now. You are someone’s mother, someone needs you all the time, but who you are yourself begins to waver,” she said.

Krumm added that the changes also made life very interesting. “It is all very positive; it is not only negative,” she said.

She also stressed the importance of recognising fathers who stay at home with their children.

“In my generation, there are many mothers who go straight back to work, but there are also many fathers who stay at home. Highlighting these fathers is very important because they are doing a great deal of work,” Krumm said.

“As I am a child’s mother and feel that these qualities associated with motherhood are not sufficiently valued in society, I would like to say to the fathers who stay at home: you are the coolest of all.”