How Moms Carry the Mental Load | Annabel Monaghan on Dolly All the Time
About this episode
Samantha Cieslinski interviews Annabel Monaghan about the mental load of motherhood and the themes in her novel, Dolly All the Time.
This week on The Running Wine Mom , Samantha sits down with New York Times bestselling author Annabel Monaghan for an honest conversation about motherhood, caregiving, burnout, love, and the invisible mental load women carry every single day. Annabel shares the inspiration behind her newest novel, Dolly All the Time — a story about a single mom juggling work, family, financial stress, and caregiving while slowly learning how to stop carrying everything alone. Samantha and Annabel dive into the “curse of capability,” why moms struggle to ask for help, and how women often become the emotional managers of their entire families. They also talk about: Why romance shouldn’t magically fix a woman’s life Fake dating, family pressure, and financial stress in fiction The emotional reality of caregiving Raising capable kids instead of over-functioning for them The mental load moms carry every day Why women relate so deeply to Dolly’s story The famous “pants” mantra from the book Writing chemistry and emotional intimacy Rhode Island as the perfect summer-book setting If you’ve ever felt like the default parent, the family planner, the emergency contact, or the one holding everything together…
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