I love Judy Blume. She taught me that some things, like puberty, are universal. She taught me that embarrassment and awkwardness are a natural part of growing up. She was a huge part of my youth and of my mother's and I'm guessing she was a big part of yours.

Judy Blume was also a working mother. She would write all day while her kids were at school. In this video from MAKERS, Judy talks about what being a working mother looked like for her, and what it meant to her children.

She starts the video by talking about how her son reacted to the question, "How was it growing up with a working mother when we lived on that street where no other mother worked?" Her son answered that he never thought of her as a working mother. At the time, Judy wrote all day while her children were at school and then stopped the moment they came home. She says that she, "Never let them see the struggle." Judy says she regrets that. That she should have let them see how hard it is and "How hard you have to work to make something happen. It doesn't just happen. I don't think they ever saw any of that."

I grew up with a working mother and father. My mother worked further away from home. Mommy and Me classes were Daddy and Me, and my dad was the one to pick me up from school and take me to piano lessons, but my mother was in no way less involved. She worked very hard at work but also worked very hard to make it to every choir recital and soccer game. She would talk to me about her job and take me to Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. I am very similar in temperament to my father but definitely got my drive and work ethic from my working mother. She taught me how to be a working woman but still make time for the things in life that are important, like family and dessert. Thanks, mom!

Bonus info: Judy Blume's son Lawrence Blume is a filmmaker who in 2012 adapted his mother's book Tiger Eyes into a feature film.