Don't Move a Muscle: The Sandwich Generation

“Life is a seesaw, and I am standing dead center, still, and balanced: living kids on one side, living parents on the other. Nicky here with me at the fulcrum. Don’t move a muscle, I think. But I will, of course, You have to.” -Rocky, from Sandwich

I had the opportunity to chat with New York Times bestselling author Catherine Newman about her latest novel, Sandwich, a moving and funny story of a family vacation told from the perspective of a mother navigating the precarious middle space of life with grown children and aging parents. 

In this episode, we chat about her inspiration for the novel, the heartbreak and joy of watching your children grow into adults, pre-emptive grief, the freedom that comes with aging as a woman and the disparities we face in our health. She also shares the very best advice for parenting during the teen and young adult years. If you're a mom in the middle years, this is a must listen! 

Catherine Newman is also the author of memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, the middle-grade novel One Mixed-Up Night, the kids’ craft book Stitch Camp, the best-selling how-to books for kids How to Be a Person and What Can I Say? and the novels We All Want Impossible Things. She writes the Substack newsletter Crone Sandwich and has been a regular contributor to the New York Times, Real Simple, O, The Oprah Magazine, Cup of Jo, and many other publications. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts. You can learn more about her work here.

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